What steps are you taking to manage your credit through the holiday season?

[MidnightVoice]

We are going to spend a lot less money, and none that we don't have

[Anonymous]

1.  Started shopping early.

2.  Family buys gifts only for the kids, then does a "Yankee Swap" for the adults on the big day, then we all go out to a nice restaurant for a family dinner after the holiday madness is over.

3.  Cash is king!

[wmarat]

Let's say I have $500 gifts to buy. I put this charde on my Penfed and get 1.25%back which is $6.75 plus I have about 50 days to pay it off, in these 50 days $500 get me another $3 in interest, so I save $9.75. Card shows activity, which FICO likes, lender sees usage and when time comes grants me CLI, which reduces util, which FICO likes.

Cash is king? Doubt it.

[Anonymous]

1. Abolished other people's "holiday" tyranny from my life years ago.  Celebrate my own.

2. Paid off mortgage, student loans.  Now have just a 2.99% HELOC which'll be paid off in another 15-16 months.

3. Use one creditcard.  Pay it off in full every month.

4. I celebrate the birthdays and anniversaries of the people I love, go incommunicado around Christmas, Thanksgiving, etc..

5. Drive one paid-off car and one paid-off pickup truck.

6. Let everybody know I don't want any more material objects in my space and they shouldn't expect any from me.  (Helps to sort out your true friends from everybody else.)

7. Stay focused on what is real, what is true, what is good, what matters most.  Exclude all the rest.

[Anonymous]

I have already told my children (all grownups) that I must decrease the amount of spending for several reasons. For one thing I have been out of work for close to 4 months and my credit cards are getting out of control. Therefore I plan to set aside a small amount of cash and use that only. I plan to concentrate mainly on the grandkids and one small gift for each child and their SO.

Terri

[mazinaige]

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@Anonymous wrote:

1. Abolished other people's "holiday" tyranny from my life years ago. Celebrate my own.

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Likewise, I stopped buying Christmas presents about 15 years ago. Instead of shopping I spend time visiting with my family and friends, cooking, cleaning, decorating and wrapping the presents they bought for others. While I love the holiday spirit, the lights, decorations and all that, I dread taking it all down, packing it away in storage and trying to pay off the bills. No thanks. It took awhile for people to adjust (my 16 year old son especially) but I explained my principle, we're not Christian and this isn't our holiday. We just celebrated it as an annual shopping event and we went into debt every year. I am not buying into it anymore. So I don't buy anything, my partner doesn't buy anything and my parents don't buy anything anymore either. And guess what? We are all still happy and we still enjoy the holiday!

Message Edited by mazinaige on 11-06-2008 11:48 AM

[Anonymous]

I have money placed into a Christmas Club account directly from my check each payday so I will be using half of that money for my three grandchildren.  No adult gifts this year and my family plans to do the same.  Everyone realizes that paying down debt and not using credit cards except in an emergency is what we are all trying to achieve.  My daughter-in-law plans to shop more wisely this year for the children and catch every sale she can until then.  BTW the other half of my Christmas Club will be used to pay down debt.

[Anonymous]

This will be the first Christmas I haven't used credit for Christmas gifts for my family and friends (at work).  Some gifts you just can't avoid.  The few gifts I buy for my family will be paid for with CASH!!

Gift certificates are my choice for my grown kids (max will be $50.00 each).

I will still get some stocking stuffers, (its fun, and cheap).  CASH again.

I'm looking forward baking Christmas goodies with the time I'll save shopping and wrapping gifts.

Just think, no credit card bills in January and I can use my tax refund in February for something more useful and fun than paying off bills from Christmas.

[Anonymous]

This will be a "home made" Christmas for my family.  With five children and two grandchildren (not to mention a daughter-in-law, sisters, and a few "significant others") that's a lot of gifts.  This will allow me to give some very special gifts of love to the people I love, spending time rather than money. 

[southernficoaddict]

We have never used CC's to buy gifts and don't plan to start this year.  While we have a little less cash after the holidays we don't have any pile of debt to pay off.  I try to make a list and stick with it.