Here are five things you should keep in mind before you head out this year, some of which you can use even if you have already begun the spending spree.

1. Make a plan ­ Not just the kind of plan that strategizes where you will spend and how much each person on your list receives, but one that actually uses the same common sense you employ during the rest of the year.

Think back to last January. How did you come out of last year's holiday? Were you so deep in debt that you needed to file your income tax return ASAP to cover the costs? Did you forego a vacation or put off a home repair to help pay for the yuletide celebration? Where you embarrassed by your spending to the point that you couldn't talk about it with your spouse or partner?

In order to change that pattern, you need to call this point in the holiday season, the beginning of your personal fiscal year. Don't wait until January first to turn over a new leaf once the debt has already occurred. Sit down and do a current tally of where you are financially from debts to assets. This will take about an hour.

Despite all of the hype surrounding Black Friday and Cyber Monday, many of us have not finished all of the shopping we intend to do. With an insight into how much is left, the surprise of overspending will no longer be as shocking. Hey, when all else fails, use guilt.

2. Call your credit card bank now and ask for a special rate.

This might as simple as an interest free period through March or April. With so many offers of cash back and rewards, the competition for your business has really heated up.

Many companies will, providing you have made your payments on time and were NEVER late, give you some incentive to use their card, especially when the threat of switching to another card is possible ­ perhaps one that offers better cash back or rewards or better interest rates. Then use it like a debit card setting aside cash to cover the costs.

3. While you have the bank on the phone, ask them what their minimum payment will be on a balance you intend to spend.

Too often, we fail to calculate what the actual payment will be for the spending will be until we get the bill next year, long after the holiday is over and the grace period has expired.

Calling the card company and finding out what the minimum payment will be can help you budget the payback to cover the extended period you just asked for, or the special interest rate you received. Then be sure that you can make a double or triple the payment on that minimum payment and, it can never be emphasized enough: don't be late.

4. Spending is the flip side of saving.

Let's face it, in many cases, the idea of saving is to set aside money for future spending. If that were true of your situation, then now would be a great time to automatically deduct a percentage of your income and direct it into a savings account. This is not money intended for retirement but for actual future spending needs ­ much like the Christmas clubs of yesteryear. Find a good money market account at your bank with limited check writing abilities and have the money sent there before you have a chance to spend it.

5. Give them the best gift of all.

Economists have a word for it: Utils. Short for utility, is used to the determine satisfaction a consumer receives from a specific commodity. The holidays are perhaps the easiest way to determine Utils. Look back to last year's gifts and try and recall how often you received satisfaction from those gifts. If you received a lot of satisfaction, the gift had a high Util rating. Now look at some of the gifts you gave to friends and family. How would they rate the Util of those gifts ­ then and now?

No other gift has the Util rating of cash. It is always spent the way the recipient wants, where they want, and on what will give them the highest Util rating. Gift cards are nice but they still force the recipient to shop where you think they will get the most satisfaction.

Cash also avoids the diminished marginal utility. This is what happens when you receive a lot of gifts. Each one loses some of its high Util rating as the amount of satisfaction is spread among other gifts.

Cash is easy to budget, easy to transport and give, is always usable and has the highest Util rating.

One final word about budgets. The very word has become similar to other unpleasant intrusions into our lives such as the alarm clock, going to work, changing diapers, etc. No one wants to have a budget but just about everyone knows they need one.

Perhaps are calling it the wrong name. Perhaps we should just call it: alternative thinking. This holiday use alternative thinking as the voice in your ear.

If you don't know whether the gift you are buying someone is right or even what he or she wants, it probably isn't. Trinkets and doodads have a very low Util rating. Don't try and impress with electronics. They are too expensive and too varied in features for the uninitiated to be able to pick it out correctly. If it happens to be on your list, opt for the least expensive model. Many stores will allow streamlined returns for customers who want to upgrade gifts returned after Christmas. Other ideas include not buying anything you can make yourself, consuming less alcohol, opting for cheaper center of the plate meats, and otherwise, enjoying the season for what it is.

Give yourself the gift of "alternative thinking" and make yourself a budget promise.