Avoiding credit cards, saving up slowly, and cutting back on eating out could make next year's Christmas a lot less stressful.
A lot of people are feeling the financial pinch at this time of year with all those events to go to and presents to buy.
Certified Financial Planner with Investment Planning Council Jeff Workman says the best thing you can do is start saving for next Christmas now. "I remember when I was a kid my mom would buy things at the store on something called lay away. So you'd take money into the store every couple of weeks when you get paid and eventually there would be enough money at the store to buy that good. I think we should be doing our own lay away plans and setting up that Christmas account earlier in the year so we have cash to spend and a budget to spend within." He recommends setting aside small incredments of $25 and $50 dollars each paycheque to help build up a fund you can pull from next year.
When it comes to credit cards, Workman says buyer beware. "You know fundamentally it really doesn't get more complicated than don't spend it if you don't have it. And just really try to avoid the urge of putting things on credit cards if you know you aren't going to be able to pay those credit cards off next month."
If this advice comes too little, too late for you, Workman suggests sitting down and looking at some of your regular purchases and finding some areas to cut back on. "The biggest area where money is kind of bleeding out is the daily coffee run at Tims or Starbucks and eating out. Those are two things that can really consume a lot of money, but the bigger thing is that it consumes money and catches us off gaurd - we often forget how much more we are spending on those things instead of making them at home."
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