Christmas Shopping can Increase Credit Debt
We are about to enter the most frantic time of the year for consumers. The Christmas shopping season is where most retailers make their annual profit, and the stores will do everything to convince you to buy something. Plastic is the preferred way of shopping for large items. Retailers hope you will use your credit cards because ordinarily you will buy more than if you use cash. It doesn’t take long before someone is driven deep into credit card debt in an effort to be generous at Christmas. It seems to be nice to buy a lot of presents but it can throw your financial wellness right out the window.
All That Glitters
The stores are going to be offering some amazing deals, but they are not that great if you cannot afford them. A smart consumer should not be dazzled by the holiday spirit into buying more than he or she can afford. There are some ways to prevent massive holiday debt.
- 1. Have a Firm Budget. You decide ahead of time how much you will spend on each member of your family and then stick to that budget. It is possible that you may spend a little bit more on one person, and a little bit less on another. What is essential for your overall financial wellness is to keep that budget firmly in mind.
- Pay With Cash. The retailers will not like this but when you pay with cash you have an idea of how much money is going out. That can stop some of the excessive spending which happens in December. You can either pay everything in cash, or perhaps just certain presents. Stocking stuffers certainly do not have to be charged on the credit card.
- How About Gift Cards? If you are going to be buying plastic, how about giving the gift of a plastic card? People many times appreciate having a gift card because it lets them make their own purchases. This also helps you stick to a budget. You might want to buy one or two other things, and have the gift card as a major holiday present.
Countrywide Can Help With Holiday Planning
Countrywide Pre-Paid Legal Services has a financial wellness benefit that many employees would appreciate. A plan member can sit down with a financial counselor, and map out a strategy for gift purchases in the coming shopping season. There are any number of ideas which can be explored to help keep some sanity in the shopping rush. A counselor can show some ways to use credit cards so that you will not go into debt shock in January. All the advice can be a real money saver in a period of time when being overgenerous can be a serious fault.
Countrywide offers a financial wellness benefit that has superior service behind it. We believe in streamlined administration, which allows a member to get service as quickly as possible. It is important not to wait for help, particularly in the coming shopping season. Countrywide sees to it that nobody has to wait to get good advice.
We also work with the employer to be sure that the financial wellness program is precisely what is needed. We have a number of options from which to choose, and decision-makers get to decide what is going to be included in the employee benefit. The final design is tailored to those expectations, and the employees get the kind of assistance that can be used immediately.
The Christmas shopping season does not have to be a financial train wreck for anyone. With proper guidance from a skilled counselor, a person can avoid the madness. We also have some other options to keep financial wellness intact. Please feel free to contact us about our services.