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

[Anonymous]

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Henrietta23 wrote:

My combined score from the three credit bureaus continues to be 819.  I don't seem to be able to bring it up.  Maybe it will go up sometime. 

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Are you certain you are looking at FICO scores? The range of FICO scores are 300-850. You have 3 different scores, so at a minimum your scores would add up to be 900.

[Anonymous]

I am limiting my use of credit cards to when I really need to use them, and I am paying more than the minimum as soon as they are due. In fact, I actually paid off one of my cards on Christmas Eve and I am crossing my fingers that I do the same for the rest of my cards in 2009. This caused me to give gift and greeting cards to my family and friends for Christmas. That was hard for me because I like to give to my family, but I did tell them about the tough times and they understood.

[haulingthescoreup]

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Henrietta23 wrote:

 I pay my bills as soon as they appear on my accounts.

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I do that during crazy times like the holidays, too --as soon as the charges appear, I pay them off. I hate that feeling of having to raid savings to pay a huge bill in full when the time comes! If I keep paying as I go, it's much less stressful, plus it makes me stop and think, knowing that I'm running out of money in checking.

[Anonymous]

Personally I don't think Christmas is only for children.  I enjoy giving the people I love gifts.  And if I pick wrong, there's always the gift receipt so they can get something they truly enjoy.  I'm not saying we should all spend thousands of dollars on Christmas, but if I enjoy giving, why not give? 

I get paid biweekly.  So in October or November, depending on how the weeks go, I get 3 paychecks.  Because I pay my bills based on my payday, not when they're due, that third paycheck usually has very little bills to pay out of it.  Therefore I take $500 and use that for Christmas Gifts.  Last year I paid for everything out of my checking account with that money, and this year I used all of my credit cards, trying to keep them active, and paid them immediately once the charges posted.  

This year I only spent about $270 and then an additional $50 I donated to Habitat For Humanity.  So I was left with $180.  Of that, about $130 went into my house fund, and the remainder went to things I needed, vitamins, personal care stuff, etc. 

Last year my extra went towards CC debt.  Next year, I hope my extra goes towards savings/home improvement stuff.

[Anonymous]

Cash and carry all the way. Ho Ho Ho!

[edselpdx]

Bah humbug. I'm knitting all my gifts this year.

[Anonymous]

It is a good idea saving money like that but knitting is not an option for everyone.