Well, Christmas is drawing near, for those who care anyway.
This means it is time to shop for presents. Good luck with that on a college student budget. Actually that’s what I’m going to do now. For those on a budget, I give thee the following advice:

The first key to budget Christmas shopping is variety. In the modern world, the best way to do this is a gift card to someone’s favorite store or restaurant. Getting a small $10 or $15 card for a bookstore, game store, or inexpensive restaurant will get them something. New games are expensive, but game stores almost always have used copies that are a lot less than the new ones. Paperback books are usually less than $20, or if they have a Kindle 2 get them an Amazon certificate for Kindle books, which are only $10.

For the stout of heart and not quite sound of mind, there was Black Friday, where deals galore were offered to raise stores’ sales and boost the economy. Apparently it worked rather well. I don’t know for sure, I was sleeping.

Don’t forget to map out your budget and see how much you have to actually spend. Make a list, do not deviate from that list, and don’t forget eBay, where you can find almost anything, even a naval cannon. I know, I’ve looked.

There’s also Craigslist.com if you don’t want to end up in a bidding war that drives the price up to stupidly high levels. For used books you can search the Barnes and Noble and Amazon Websites as well. Blockbuster has previously viewed DVDs at reduced prices, too. People appreciate a gift whether it’s new or used. Well, at least they should.

Also with Christmas comes decorating, baking cookies and spending time with family. Make sure to enjoy the break before the next semester, too, and you can do it doing all of these things. Especially the cookies.

Spending time with family can be hectic and your family may be dysfunction-palooza, but they’re still family. I mentioned the cookies, right? They, and the presents, tend to make up for the dysfunction.

Decorating is fun because you can be creative and you get to use shiny things. They’re making a lot of LED lights now, but those lights tend to not be as bright as regular bulbs. But, I think for Christmas you should have bright lights to reflect all that bright cheer. Just don’t over light your tree or house, because Christmas tree fires do happen.

Now for those of you thinking I’m focusing too much about Christmas, I’m working with what I know. But, thanks to the Internet, dianasdesserts.com has Hanukkah ideas for you, as well as recipes and ideas for Kwanzaa.

So whatever holiday you celebrate, and however you celebrate it, enjoy the season, and the break, before next semester hits. Happy Holidays, Eastern students.