• Send E-Greetings

This year go the e-way and send e-greetings instead of postal cards. They don't cost a thing and are available in so much variety too. From interactive greeting cards to musical ones, you can take your pick from an assorted range.

Want to know how to make the most of e-cards? Click Here

Send postal cards only to your family and closest friends. A decent greeting card from Archies or Hallmark will not cost you less than Rs.30 and postage is about Rs.11 to Rs.15 per card. So if instead you send out ten e-cards this year, you can save about Rs.450.

Cut Costs Where You Can

If you don't have the budget for it, don't buy that 24 carat gold necklace. Never feel compelled by others or even custom to live beyond your means. Instead go with a new saree and use your last year's jewellery to complement it.

Check out our Guide to Buying Gold.

Also, it will fall much cheaper to buy readymade clothes (unless from a designer showroom) than to stitch. Fabrics can be very expensive and a good tailor will charge you a bomb. Besides, everyone will be getting clothes stitched, so if you want yours on time you will have to really be an early bird.

Here's how you can Turn Your Sarees into New Clothes!

Festive Offers = Quick Debt

Thinking of buying a brand new plasma TV for Rs.84,000? An electronic store has advertised an easy EMI facility of Rs.7000 for a year. What more could you ask for, right?

Well, if the plasma TV is beyond what you can afford at the moment, don't buy it. Period. And no it is not okay to live a little when it comes to luxury goods. Remember, a loan for a luxury that is not an asset is going to burn holes in your pockets.

We tell you Why Personal Loans are a NO-NO.