If you’re like the majority of the American public, you intend to cut back on your holiday spending but are worried about just how merry the holiday season will be with less to spend. Fear not! There are plenty of ways to get great gifts without breaking the bank.

One of the most obvious ways to beef up your holiday budget is to raid the old change jar. Coinstar locations are available nationwide, and will waive the 8.9% coin counting fee if you opt to take your money in the form of a gift card. Gift cards are offered for such popular merchants as Amazon, allowing you to keep 100% of your money and use the gift cards as gifts or keep them to use when shopping for your friends and family.

Another trick for saving money on your holiday shopping without cutting your gifting is to buy discounted gift cards online and use them to purchase other holiday gifts. For instance, if you intend to spend a fair amount of your holiday budget at Macy’s, visit PlasticJungle and pick up a $300 Macy’s gift card for $268 (a nearly 11% discount). Understand, however, that the availability of gift cards on sites such as Plastic Jungle varies. If you see a good one buy it immediately because it may not be there tomorrow!

A great option for gathering together funds to help with your holiday shopping is to go ahead and submit those receipts for your Flexible Spending Account and get your reimbursement now.  The same goes for any mileage or expense reimbursements owed to you by your employer. Oh, and while you’re at work, you may want to go ahead and submit a new W-4 reduce your withholdings from the last few paychecks of the year. It’s unlikely to have much of an effect on your taxes, as long as you remember to readjust it again in January, but it will put some extra cash in your pocket in December.

Do you have a bunch of frequent flier miles or credit card rewards points? Review the details of any such programs and raid your balances, if possible, to snag some gifts that the recipients will appreciate, such as wine clubs or magazine subscriptions. Also check out online programs such as MyPoints or Ebates.

My Points rewards purchases through popular online retailers , survey participation, and even game playing with “points” that can be saved up for gift cards from dozens of well-known stores and restaurants. Ebates has an amazing catalog of merchants – making purchases from those merchants will net you cash back in varying amounts (dependent upon the merchant) that will be paid out quarterly. I've earned $157 in cash back strictly from purchases (including travel) through Ebates in just the last few months. If you'd like to sign up for Ebates, click here (<-- referral link).

As a holiday gift for new parents, or even those who’ve been at it for a while, how about giving them a night out for a great price? Check out Restaurant.com to find gift cards or certificates for local eateries at a fraction of their face value. Couple the dinner with an I.O.U. for a night of babysitting, and Mom and Dad will consider you their hero. (Even better, link to Restaurant.com via Ebates, and earn 15% cash back!)

Also, look for BOGO (buy one, get one) deals as you go about your normal business. When you’re renewing your magazine subscriptions, check with online distributors or directly with the publisher to see if they offer a program to give a gift subscription for free or at a discount when you renew your own annual subscription. Many publishers do offer such deals, especially around the holidays.

A membership to the American Automobile Association, or AAA, is a great gift! Not only does membership provide roadside assistance, but it is also good for discounted travel packages and discounts at many retailers, including 10% off purchases at Dunkin' Donuts and Target.

My AAA club (AAA of Western and Central New York) is currently waiving the $15 account set up fee for gift memberships, brining the cost of a basic membership down to just $52.

Last, if you haven’t tried selling your stuff on eBay, do so. Gifts that you received that you never got around to returning, clothes that you bought that still have the tags on them, designer purses that you no longer carry, house wares that are never used – all have money making potential. Your junk is someone else’s treasure, so you may as well capitalize on it and earn a little extra money (or maybe even a lot!) to put towards your holiday shopping.

These are only a few of the ways that you can stretch your holiday budget, but hopefully these ideas will get your creative juices flowing and help you to find other methods to get as much bang as possible out of your holiday shopping buck.

Have other suggestions for saving money during the holidays without sacrificing your gifting? Post 'em up in the Comments section below!