Linn: Buying necessities is a great holiday saving strategy

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People walk past a store in New York City.

Today Money and msnbc.com expert Allison Linn joined us for a live Web chat Wednesday to answer your questions about holiday shopping and managing your finances.

Here’s one of her answers to questions from the live chat. (See below for the full Q&A.)

Matt asked:

“This year, my wife and i decided to buy each other ONLY necessities (socks, underwear, etc.) We are thinking about doing that for our kids too. Thoughts?”

Allison replied:

“Wow, Matt, that's a great strategy for saving money. I do think that it probably depends on how old your kids are and what their expectations are for the holidays. If you are going with necessities for them, you probably want to talk about that beforehand, explain why you are doing it and talk about how they can craft and appropriate holiday wish list. It can be a great holiday tradition, though, and who knows - my kids LOVE getting pajamas for the holidays, and that's become a holiday tradition for us.”

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