With Christmas fast approaching, I want to tell you how to manage your holiday shopping list without going over budget.

But first, I have a dirty little secret to reveal: Half of all holiday shopping you do when you're supposedly shopping for others is probably going to be for you! While this isn't true of everyone, this is a very typical pattern.

So be honest with yourself before you get into the stores. Here's what I recommend: Come up with a total dollar amount you feel comfortable spending on everyone, including yourself. Once you have that dollar amount, start writing out all the names of your intended gift recipients.

With the names down on paper, you next want to put specific dollar amounts by each name to indicate how much you'll spend on each person. Once you're done, add up all those figures. Are you over budget yet? Most people will be.

If you are, start marking people off the list or scaling back the dollar amounts next to each name until you're within the total dollar amount you wanted to spend for everyone on your list.

Take that paper with you when you're out shopping. Keep a running tally as you make purchases. If you spend less on someone than anticipated, you have more money to spend on someone else. If you spend more on someone, then you'll have less to spend on others. Remember to keep track.

I love it every season when people come up to me in the stores and show me their lists!

By using my method, you'll avoid that January hangover effect when the credit card bills come due after the holidays and you don't have enough money to cover them.

One last hint: You may also want to purge the plastic from your purse or wallet and try paying for holiday shopping with cash only. When there's no cash left, there can be no more purchases. I recently spoke to a credit counselor who sees tons of clients by March because they can't handle their holiday bills. Don't let this be you!