Try these hints for a happy and cost-efficient holiday:

• Send out holiday postcards (20 cent stamps), instead of cards (32 cent stamps).

• Instead of buying a gift, give a friend or family members a gift certificate for a free service, such as babysitting, pet sitting, or lawn care.

• When ordering gifts from a catalog, have those gifts shipped directly to the recipient and save the cost of having to ship it yourself a second time.

• Buy gifts such as magazine subscriptions, which offer discounts when you buy more than one subscription.

• Buy holiday food supplies in bulk. Some non-perishable items may be used in quantity from Thanksgiving through New Year's Day.

• Use credit cards that offer bonuses -- such as frequent flyer miles-with each dollar spent.

• Give gift certificates -- they are easy to buy, easy and inexpensive to mail, and the individual can purchase what they really want.

• If your family is large, have everyone buy one gift for one other person. Choose by drawing lots.

• Put your hobbies to work and make handmade gifts for friends and relatives.

• Use natural decorations, such as branches, berries, holly, and pine cones, which you can find in nearby woods.

• Use brown paper shopping bags for wrapping paper and ask the kids to decorate with holiday drawings.

• Take advantage of long-distance calling plans like the one offered by LCI International -- a penny a minute for up to 30 minutes -- on selected holidays.