How to avoid Christmas debt overload
The Christmas season is truly the season of giving. There is no
other time of the year when people's hearts are as open or their
hands are as freely generous as they are during the Christmas
holiday. I mean, even our favorite Christmas motto states, "It
is better to give than to receive." While giving does fill your
heart with joy and help those who are less fortunate than us,
many have taken this motto to extremes when it comes to buying
Christmas presents for their children, spouses and other family
members. It is not uncommon for families 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 Christmas 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. I can remember one commercial in particular that
advertised a leading high-end car manufacturer. The husband
opened up his gift from his lovely wife to reveal a set of keys.
When he went outside to look in the drive, there was a very
expensive, sleek and seductive sports car. Seriously, who has
been good enough all year to deserve a $50,000 luxury sports
car? But the message is clear, give the very best. The same
angle is used on men when it comes to buying expensive jewelry
for their wives. It's never ending.
Now, I'm not saying that advertisers are to blame for our
ballooning Christmas debt. They are simply armed with the
knowledge that more consumer spending takes place during the
holidays, and they want a piece of the pie. The fault then lies
with our own inability to curb our holiday spending. It seems
that even if we do not have the money to finance a lavish
Christmas, we will still purchase one using our high-interest
credit cards and worry about paying it off later. And worry we
do.
If this scenario sounds familiar, it doesn't have to be that way
yet again this Christmas. You can take a few simple steps to
alleviate Christmas debt altogether. Here's how: