"I subscribe to a daily newsletter called "Everyday Cheapskate" and I frequently find little gems of advice that are worth keeping and treasuring. This has to be the motherlode of advice for the Holiday Season, and I'm happy to pass it on to you. I want to thank Mary Hunt, the author, for this timely advice, I hope it helps you! "

"If your spending habits are nudging you into holiday debt, you don't have to give in. You can experience a joyful season without mortgaging your future in order to feel good. It's all a matter of attitude -- something over which you have tremendous control. While you can't change many things related to this holiday season, you can choose the way you respond to them.

"It may seem completely ridiculous to think that just by changing your attitude you can change your circumstances, but it's often true. Disadvantages can be turned into advantages simply by the way you look at them. The happiest people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the best of everything.

"Don't be pressured into spending more at this time of year because you think it's the right thing to do. While you may have done this in the past, now is the time to make your holiday merry without taking all of Madison Avenue's suggestions.

"Here's a life principle that will help you understand and make meaningful attitude changes: It's easier to act your way into a feeling than to feel your way into an action. If you change your attitudes not because you feel like it but because you know what you're doing is the right thing, your feelings will follow. On the other hand, if you wait until you do it just because it feels good, you can wind up in massive debt.

"Everything about the holiday season stimulates our feelings. The music moves our spirits and tenderizes our souls. The displays of grandeur take our breath away. The grand decorations, the blessed sentiments; the gifts, the giving, the children and the loved ones; the snow, the parties and the pageants; the holly and mistletoe -- all of these things encourage us to act compulsively without thoughts of the consequences.

"Yet it's difficult to ignore the fear of not doing everything well enough; the guilt of not measuring up, giving the right gift or spending enough to even the score.

"Christmas can be one overwhelming feeling after another. If we allow our spending to be controlled by the feeling we happen to be having at the moment, we're in for some kind of a roller-coaster ride that carries a heavy price tag.

"I'm not suggesting that you should shut down your emotions during the month of December so you can stop feeling. Not at all! I'm only suggesting you not let your feelings direct your life. That's the job for your values, ethics and morals.

"Rather than allowing your attitudes about Christmas and debt to be shaped by your ever-changing feelings brought on by sights, sounds, smells, shopping malls, magazines, neighbors, friends, family or any other person, place or thing, you can choose to shape your attitudes in a reasoned and logical manner. This is the way to take control of your holiday spending. "