The average American consumer will spend nearly $800 on the winter holidays – on gifts and entertainment, according to the National Retail Federation.

But Dayana Yochim, personal finance expert at The Motley Fool, says the tab is more like upwards of $1,125. She said that’s because the average consumer buys 15 gifts valued at $75 each. If those numbers horrify you or you fear you will spend even more, you might consider some of these money-saving tips. They’re hardly Scrooge-like.

You can avoid impulse buys by making a shopping list. Jot down the people you need to buy gifts for and your budget per gift, said Mary Quinn, director of CharlotteSaves, a nonprofit agency that helps people get out of the red and to build a savings.

Also do holiday food shopping with a list in hand.

“Food is rarely added to a holiday plan, and it could be hundreds of dollars,” Quinn said. “It is not a gift you are giving, but it is still money out of your pocket.”

Yochim agreed, adding that more than half of all supermarket purchases are impulse buys.

¢ Got a big family? Draw names, so everyone has to buy just one present, Quinn said.

¢ My suggestion: Take advantage of sales throughout the year to load up on gifts. That’s what I do – and I pay cash. That way, when the holidays come around, I don’t have to find a huge chunk of money or charge a bunch of gifts. And, I get to enjoy other festivities, such as putting up my Christmas tree and baking cookies.

¢ Before you start shopping, personal finance experts recommend you draw up a budget. An incentive to do so: Figure out how much your purchases could really end up costing you if you can’t pay them off when the bills first come in. According to CardWeb.com’s calculator, if you have a Holiday Season 2006 balance of $800 and interest rate of 14.55 percent – the average fixed rate – and make minimum monthly payments of 4 percent of the balance, it will take you until Holiday Season 2012 to pay off the debt. You will pay $288.89 in interest.