Frugal Family Challenge: Holiday Gifts

Dec. 11, 2008— -- Everyone loves the holidays. It's a time for family, big holiday meals, and giving and receiving gifts. But it also means spending a lot of money.

More and more Americans feel the effects of the recession. With the holiday season upon us, 51 percent say they will pay less for presents, according to a recent ABC News poll.

In this month's Frugal Family Challenge, USA Today and ABC's "Good Morning America" have asked a family to spend less on its holiday gifts.

With help from money coach and "Overcoming Overspending" author Olivia Mellan and ABC's technology contributor Becky Worley, the Zacek family will test its new spending limits.

The family will try to apply Mellan and Worley's advice and document its members' shopping trips.

Following is a sneak peek at the Zacek's holiday challenge. Tune in on Saturday when "Good Morning America" reveals how they did.

The Zaceks are tech fanatics. Living in the rural area of Concord, N.C., a lot of the family activities depend on tech tools.

Sue and Eldon covet all the newest electronics, and their two teens, Trey and Valerie, up the ante. Their idea of bonding is playing the family Wii.

"[They want] what's out there now," Sue said.

With the holidays just around the corner, the family wish list is loaded with techy toys. It includes iPods, gaming accessories, digital watches, mp3 players, music players and video camera accessories.

However, recent turmoil at work has prompted the Zaceks to take a hard look at their shopping list.

Sue works in banking, and Eldon is a consultant in the auto racing industry. Both sectors of the economy are hurting, and the family's uncertain financial future has prompted a collective belt tightening.

"We have to trim back," Eldon said. "We are definitely open for suggestions. I know there is probably at lot of places here we could be doing better managing of our finances."

The idea is to sit down and help the family come up with a reasonable budget for holiday gifts, and then to teach them how to find them at a discount.