This Is the Biggest Holiday Shopping Mistake I've Ever Made

Shopping for the holidays can do a number on your bank account -- especially if you don't make wise choices about how to allocate your dollars.

Unfortunately, one Christmas I made a major mistake when doing my holiday shopping. It cost me about $800, and it's a mistake I absolutely will not make again.

This was my biggest holiday blunder

The biggest holiday error I ever made happened when my son was 27 months old. It was the first Christmas when he was really excited about the thought of Santa Claus and getting presents.

I wanted to embrace his excitement and make the season really memorable for him since he had been too young to really know what was going on during the first two festive seasons. He was also going to be getting a little sister in March, so it was our last Christmas with him as an only child, and I was probably feeling a little bit of mom guilt about that.

For all of those reasons, I broke out the credit cards and went crazy buying him stuff from us and Santa. I not only got him a ride-on excavator that had a digger that really worked, but dozens of other toys including games, remote control toy cars, and a ton of other stuff that I can't even remember now.

The problem was, all of this stuff was super overwhelming for him. He didn't know what to play with first and he ended up running frantically from toy-to-toy without ever really taking the time to enjoy anything. He was also absolutely terrified when the ride-on excavator moved when he pushed the pedal (and he's just starting to enjoy that toy now).

This shouldn't have been a surprise given that studies show too many toys can overwhelm and overstimulate kids. But I didn't realize just how crazy I had gone until I saw all the stuff under the tree -- and the big bills that I had to show for it.

How I'm avoiding repeating my mistake

After spending a ton of money on toys that didn't really get played with and ended up stressing out my kid, I've made a big change in how I approach holiday shopping.

I now have a strict limit. I follow the Want, Need, Wear, Read policy. My kids get something they want, something they need, something to wear, and something to read. They get this from us (their parents) as well as from Santa so they get about eight presents each in total. Then they also get a few little things from the Dollar Tree as stocking stuffers and that's it.

This has slashed my spending on the holidays and it's made the day much more enjoyable. The kids are excited about their holiday PJs, they get two really cool toys that they can focus on playing with, and they get a book that we can read together on Christmas night. I plan to stick with this every year so it becomes a tradition, and they'll know exactly what to expect over time.

If you're a parent, you can learn from my mistake and avoid a big holiday blunder. Don't go overboard on gifts as it won't make your kids -- or your personal finances -- happy.