Christmas Debt

Is it me, or have you noticed that the holiday marketing out there heavily implies that we need to basically renovate our homes to be so-called 'ready' for the holidays? I just heard an ad on the radio letting me know that I can borrow up to $35,000 from them this season, great! I better pay that back in 11 months so I can do it all over again next year!

To be honest, there is no reason to go into debt over the holidays. If you are truly honest about your holiday budget, you can plan for it without incurring debt.

Ok, so I'm heavy handed about Christmas overspending, but it comes from the old banker in me that sat on the other side of the desk, facing clients who didn't bat an eye about consolidating their holiday overspending into their mortgage. And this happened year over year, effectively turning the home into an ATM. A great holiday tip is to create a budget for everyone on your gift list and stick to it, this is a simple and very effective budgeting strategy.

If your debt is creeping up, particularly around the holidays you are overspending. A la Carte Financial has real conversations with you about what your holidays look like and creates a strategy to keep your financial goals on track.