Immediately following the season of giving is the season of paying, and if you’re like most people, you have probably racked up a bit of debt in your quest to make the holidays special for family and friends. So rather than finding yourself in the same boat a year from now, why not set aside the resolutions to lose weight (you know that only lasts about five minutes), clean the garage, plant a garden, and so on, and instead commit to setting a budget that will give you the money you need to pay off debt, keep up with bills, and save a little extra to hire a cleaning crew and gardeners (and still have some money left for next year’s holiday season)?