While many personal finance articles mention several obvious ways to save money during the holiday shopping sprees, there are other ideas often left untouched. Many people feel these particular subjects are somewhat taboo but if you truly must cut your spending this Christmas, they are definitely a necessity to consider.

Here are 5 less popular but still important and practical ways to cut your holiday spending.

1. Keep Presents for Kids Only

As many adults are aware, people all over the world are struggling to get by due to the recent crisis with gasoline, rising taxes, decreasing jobs, and the credit crunch. Many adults would probably be sympathetic to your situation and silently thrilled that they too could cut their spending if everyone agrees to focus on the kids when it comes to the big gifts.

2. Pass on the Gift Exchange At Work

You may feel a bit funny having to bow out of the office festivities but if you can’t afford it, don’t do it. Instead, bring a baked good or special stash of candy for the office to share. Chances are good that if you take the initiative to opt-out, others who can’t afford it may follow your lead. You can also take the initiative and think of a good replacement idea for the gift-giving practice. Perhaps you can coordinate a pot-luck holiday lunch one afternoon and ask the boss for an extended lunch. That way, all you are out is a little time and one covered dish.

3. Be a Re-Gifter

Some people may not feel at all comfortable being a regifter, but some feel it is perfectly acceptable - provided you keep tabs on who gave you what gift and to whom you have regifted the gift to - get it ? It seems more of a waste to shove a perfectly good gift into the closet and never use it than it does to pass it along to someone who would truly appreciate it. (Personally, I have always thought of it this way - the person who gave me the gift essentially gave me the gift of saving money, as I do not have to spend additional money to make someone else happy!)

4. Don’t Party At Your House

If you have traditionally been the host of holiday festivities, it might be best to ask a relative or friend to host this year. This way you only have to bring a dessert or nice bottle of wine instead of spending a ton of money on food, drink, and gifts. You can resume your hosting duties next year or you can start a new tradition of passing around the hosting duties to other family members.

5. Skip the Fancy Wrapping

At $2 to $10 a roll, wrapping paper and accessories can get quite expensive. Start saving the comic section of the newspapers and wrap all of your gifts in the funnies. You can also buy some plain paper in bulk and use markers or stickers to decorate the packages. Forget the bows and ribbons. After all, you are essentially paying a fortune for a big bag of trash on Christmas day.