Christmas Shopping And The Debt It Creates
Tis the season to be jolly and of course giving! Our favorite Christmas motto states, “It is better to give than to receive.” It is very common for families during the holidays to run up tremendous high-interest credit card debt to buy their children elaborate and expensive gifts such as computers, stereos and designer clothes as gifts. Just take a look at the commercials that air constantly during the Christmas season. They all have one goal in mind: to motivate you to spend as much money as you can during the holidays. Now, I’m not saying that advertisers are to blame for our credit card debt. They know that more consumer spending takes place during the holidays, and they want a piece of it. The fault actually lies with our own inability to control our holiday spending. It seems that even if we don’t have the money for a lavish Christmas, we will still purchase one using our high-interest credit cards and worry about paying it off later. For many people, this debt pattern is repeated year after year. Personal finance experts call this the “holiday hangover.” There are times when credit card debt makes sense, but holiday gift
Here are a few tips to help you with your holiday shopping:
1. Make a list-Follow Santa’s example. Make a list of all the people you need or want to buy gifts for, including small gifts for babysitters, teachers, newspaper deliverers, etc. These small gifts can add up and are often the cause of going over your gift budget. Include money you’ll spend on Christmas cards, postage, holiday parties, decorations, and other things.
2. Set a limit-Decide how much you’ll spend on each person on your gift list, then add everything up and make sure it doesn’t exceed your overall spending limit.
3. Decide where to shop-As important as deciding what you’re going to buy is deciding where you’re going to buy it. If you don’t wait until the last minute, you’ll have time to comparison shop. As Christmas approaches, some items are marked down as much as 40% but selections are limited. You’ll need to decide whether price or selection is more important to you and shop accordingly.
Follow these simple steps and you’ll avoid the nagging feeling that you’ve overspent on Christmas or other holiday gifts. If you for some reason go over your budget and find yourself with a “holiday hangover” visit my website and get my FREE report on how to rapidly pay-off your credit card debt along with all your other debts: www.financialadvantages.com
My name is Steve Herman and 5 years ago I discovered a way to rapidly pay-off debt and rapidly fund a retirement account! visit my website and get my FREE report at: http://www.financialadvantages.com
Tags: christmas shopping, credit cards, debt, gift giving, gifts, holiday hangover, holiday shopping