I was watching TV the other night - shocker I know... I was just flipping the channels and I came across the science channel.  Normally, I wouldn't even let off the button for the science channel, except that something caught my eye and I stopped.

Some guy named Garth Sundem was explaining his Holiday shopping formula to a woman; a mom, like me.

At first I thought it sounded dumb but then he did it for her and guess what?  It worked.  It was like a card trick where he asked her to pull a card out of the deck and memorize what it was and then he'd show her what it was at the end.

He did the formula and then asked her what she would spend on her gifts and both their numbers matched!  It was neat!

I know this might be a little late for some of you who are great planners and have already done all your shopping.  But for the rest of us who are still in the woes throes of shopping, here it is...

1)  First you need to come up with a budget.

My budget for this year is $400.  I keep presents to a minimum so this should be fairly simple.

2)  Next, you take all the people you're buying gifts for and you assign them a number according to importance. 1 - 10.  Ten being the most important and one the least important.

This is my list.

Hubby  =  6
BG   =   6
Buddy   =  6
Grandma   = 4
MIL   = 2
BG's teacher  =  2.5 
Buddy's Sitter  = 2.5
One extra for someone I may  have missed  = 2
aunt  =  2
Kid in family #1  =  1 
Kid in family #2  =  1
Kid in family #3  =  1
Kid in family #4  =  1

3)  Now, add all the ratings together.  Mine add up to 37.

4)  Make your budget equal to the ratings total times X (400 = 37x).

5)  Then solve for X.  That's 400 divided by 37 (400 ÷ 37 = x).

Now let's do the math.

X equals about $10.81. That's my base number.

So, now you multiply the base number by the rating you assigned to each person. That's how much you spend on that person.

Hubby  =  6  x  $10.81 =  $64.86
BG   =   6 x  $10.81 =  $64.86
Buddy   =  6 x  $10.81 =  $64.86
Grandma   = 4  x  $10.81  =  $43.24
MIL  = 2 x  $10.81  =  $21.62
BG's teacher  =  2.5  x  $10.81  =  $27.03
Buddy's Sitter  = 2.5  x  $10.81  =  $27.03
One extra for someone I may  have missed  = 2  x  $10.81 =  $21.62
aunt  =  2  x  $10.81  =  $21.62
Kid in family #1  =  1  x  $10.81  =  $10.81
Kid in family #2  =  1  x  $10.81  =  $10.81
Kid in family #3  =  1  x  $10.81  =  $10.81
Kid in family #4  =  1  x  $10.81  =  $10.81

If I add all these up, they equal to my budget of $399.98.  Not bad at all. 

This is pretty darn close to what I've already spent too, with some minor exceptions!

So, what are you waiting for?  Go forth and multiply, or in this case, solve for X!

If you can stick to your budget, I think this formula is the way to go!  Good luck; let me know how it works out for you!

For more info. about this formula, please go directly to the science channel site.

This informative blog post has been brought to you for Mama4Kids, 16 Days of New Things.

Go check out other 16 Days of New Things .  Happy Holidays!