Like many students during the holiday season, Emily Webster is learning how to stretch a dollar.

Webster (sophomore-marketing), who is on a budget of $100 per month, is faced with the challenge of finding money to spend on Christmas presents for friends and family.

"This year, I'm going to make cards for my friends or volunteer to clean the house for my family," she said.

Kelly Bucca (junior-elementary education) said she started shopping early and recommends that others do the same.

"The earlier you shop, the more likely you are to still have money left over from the summer," she said.

Mike Glass (freshman-electrical engineering) said he was using money he made over the summer to buy gifts, but advised students to take advantage of sales at local stores.

"I went to McLanahan's and found a lot of good sales on Penn State stuff for my family," Glass said.

As an employee at the Penn State Bookstore, Jessica Sampson (junior-advertising and public relations) said she has used her discount to save money on gifts.

"During the two weeks before finals, we receive a 45-percent discount, so that has helped a lot with buying Christmas presents," she said.

Sampson added that this year, she and her roommates are going out to dinner instead of buying gifts for each other.

Another popular idea is to use past gifts to buy new ones.

"I use gift certificates I've received in the past to buy presents for others," Brynn Ion (junior-secondary education) said.

A popular idea for those students who have several friends to shop for is to do a Secret Santa or Pollyanna gift exchange, where each person is only responsible for buying a present for one other person.

"Last year, my friends and I did a Pollyanna so that we would only have to worry about buying one gift instead of buying one for everyone," Amanda Matthews (freshman-elementary education) said.

She added that her parents also help to pay for gifts she cannot afford.

"My parents are very cool about giving me money to buy gifts," she said.

Barry Gessner (freshman-aerospace engineering) said he was trying to cut back on spending now so he will have money left to buy presents .

"To save money, I am not ordering out as much and eating in the dining commons so I can use my meal plan instead of spending cash," he said.

Erin Nowelsky (freshman-animal science) said the most inexpensive items can still make good gifts.

"I buy things that everyone will like and that are not expensive," Nowelsky said. "Everyone likes chocolate so I buy little bags of chocolate from See's Candies in my hometown."

Nowelsky also said she likes to give Christmas cards because they are thoughtful and not very expensive.

Most students, as well as families, understand that college students are running out of money at this time of year, Webster said.

"I might not be able to buy a present for everyone this year," she said. "But I know that everyone will understand because they know that college students do not have enough money to buy presents for everyone."