Budget.
You will have been control over your finances if you make sure to budget everything. Make a list of extra expenditures over the holidays - this could be anything from extra money for Halloween candy or Thanksgiving dinner to money for Christmas presents and travel, if you plan on going anywhere. Work your budget so that you figure in the little extras for holidays, and then try not to go over that. It's a good idea to start saving early as well.

When you budget, take into account all of the things you anticipate spending money on this holiday season. Don't forget Christmas decorations for the inside and outside of your home, meals, holiday cards, gift wrapping, and so forth. Then set a budget and know exactly how much you plan on spending before you start your shopping. This will help you to avoid impulse buys.

Start early.
Don't wait until the week before Christmas to buy all of your gifts. Instead, try purchasing a gift a week, for example, up until Christmas. This will make it so it's not such a blow to your bank account all at once.

Take advantage of early sales and holiday sales as well. The day after Thanksgiving is infamous for being the busiest shopping day of the year, but it also has some great sales on gifts and decorations for Christmas.

Cut costs
You can also make ends meet during the holidays by cutting costs on expenses. For example, you can cut costs on gifts by doing a gift exchange within your family. Many families will draw names for a gift, so instead of having to purchase gifts for everyone, you could just purchase for one person. Another way to cut costs is to give baked goods as gifts. This is inexpensive and always well received.

You can also look around for secondhand or discounted things on sites like classifieds and craigslist. Many people want to unload their Christmas or holiday decorations and will sell perfectly good items inexpensively.

Don't go into debt.
It may be tempting to want to charge a lot of your holiday expenses, but in the long run this is not a good idea. Your Christmas and holiday gifts could take years to pay off, making it harder to make ends meet in the long run as a result of higher credit card payments and potential dings on your credit score, especially if you were having trouble making ends meet before. Credit cards typically have very high interest rates as well, so unless you pay off the charges quickly, you could end up spending hundreds and even thousands more in interest.

Never put off bills
When making ends meet during the holidays, it's important to remember to never put off paying your bills so you can spend money on holiday things instead.
Making ends meet during the holidays may seem difficult, but if you remember to always pay your bills first, budget, and plan ahead, you can still have a memorable holiday.