Denice McMahon says she's cutting back on her holiday gift spending this year, "probably by half."

The Rochester, N.Y., resident said it as she loaded two frozen turkeys into her shopping cart at the Wegmans Food Markets in Irondequoit, N.Y. "One for me and one for my mother," she said.

Hers weighed more than 20 pounds — a perfect size. McMahon had a dozen or more family and friends to her house for Thanksgiving dinner.

Like many holiday shoppers, McMahon was watching her gift dollars a little more carefully than the cost of the holiday feast. "You set a (spending) limit and try not to go over it," she said.

McMahon already has reduced her turkey costs. By spending $25 at Wegmans, the big bird cost her 29 cents a pound.

Meals often are not factored into a family's holiday spending budget. And that can cause problems when the bills come due in January, especially if you use a credit card, said Chad Rieflin, education chairman at Rochester's Credit Education Bureau.

"I've read articles that give estimations of $1,500 that people will spend for the holidays," Rieflin said. "Typically it goes on the credit cards and interest is added on and they are paying it for months if not the next year after that."

Even people who try to stick to a gift budget can run into trouble, he said.

"It's kind of like a double whammy," he said. "People ... don't take into consideration all the other holiday expenses. People might even go overboard with decorations and things like that. I've known people who every year have 50 new strings of lights. Before they know it, they are in over their heads."

Even a turkey can be pricey. Wegmans recently advertised a fresh premium holiday bird with 50 percent more white meat than a regular turkey at $1.59 a pound. That's well above the deep-discounted frozen birds at other supermarkets.

Here are tips for keeping holiday meal expenses in check: