The holiday season is frantic for most shoppers and trying to be generous while staying within the bounds of your budget is no easy task. In a weak effort to alleviate this stress, the Crimson and Gray produced this humble guide to low budget shopping.

We decided to set up a little imaginary family to shop for: A father and mother(age: middle), a son(age: 16), and a daughter(age: 8). We set the budget at $30.

I needed more than just my opinion on what to buy, so I asked Amirah "No You Can't Touch Her Hair" Parker, flamboyant C&G photographer, to purchase gifts for the imaginary family.

Amirah bought gifts for the little girl at Hatch's bookstore. She picked out Harriet the Spy and A Wrinkle In Time, two books that are big with the eightÐyear old reading crowd. Price: $7.64. Next Amirah headed to Sears to Þnd something for "mom and dad." Ever the creative shopper, Amirah bought the father a gift that you never see given to middleÐaged men...a tie. Price: $7.50. For the mother she bought a nice jewelry set consisting of three bracelets, for only $5.99.

Finally, Amirah set out to get something for the 16 year old boy. Always in touch with teenage America, Amirah bought him a model plane at Hobbytown USA. Apparently a $6.00 plastic 747 will make up for the fact that he didn't get a car this year. Amirah's grand total with tax: $29.22. Not bad.

Now me, I'm a one-stop shopper. If I can buy for everyone on my list in one trip, then I'm as happy as a clam. I headed to Wal-Mart, the Mecca of low budget holidays. Deciding to get the easiest stuff out of the way Þrst, I went to the toy section. My plan was simple: little girls like Barbie,buy her a Barbie doll. There's only thing to watch out for in this situation: imitations. Give a Þesty little girl an imitation Barbie and you may end up with a concussion from a ßying Malibu dream house. I almost fell for one of the clone dolls, but for some reason "Costa Rica Chiquita" didn't sound authentic to me, so I went to the next aisle and found "Splash N' Color" Barbie for only $5.87. Next on my list was the Þcticous mother. I decided to hit the movie section. I found exactly what I was looking for in the discount section: Ghost for $6.96. A tip for all guysÐif you got bored sitting through it, then it's probably a touching masterpiece to any female. I wandered around WalÐMart trying to Þnd something for the two people left, but I couldn't Þt it into my budget without buying something stupid like a nine volt battery. Lewis County Mall, here I come. I stepped into Sears and low and behold, I hit the jackpot. What do you get for the working dad who has everything? A 1998 Dilbert Desk Calendar($9.95) to keep him amused at the cracker factory, or whatever.

The true test came in Þnding something good, yet cheap, for the teenage guy. Quite a while of browsing through the mall left me with nothing that fit the bill. Yeah right, who would buy a 16-year old a model plane? Suddenly, there it was before me, a sign that said PayLess. I thought, "Well that's the whole idea, isn't it?"

At first I saw the racks of handgun ammunition, and I thought, "What more does a teenager need these days?" Alas, I had a feeling that the bullets would not be used in self-defense, but rather for the execution of Splash N' Color Barbie.

I headed for the music section. CD's are expensive, so if you're on a tight budget, look at the tapes. They may not be as durable as CD's, but good music is good music. If you're a cheapskate like me, you'll go to the "Specially Priced" section. Although most of the tapes are there for a good reason, you occasionally Þnd a gem amongst the Yanni tapes. I Þnd a great bit of history in "Funk ClassicsÐthe 80's." Not only does it provide some jivin' tunes, but at $3.99, it's a steal. You can't go wrong with Kool And The Gang.