Soon people will be making promises to themselves to do something to improve their financial situations.

But many won’t make such a pledge until after the holiday season. It won’t happen until after they’ve spent more than they can afford buying gifts. They won’t be ready for a change until after they’ve added more debt to their credit cards trying to make Christmas magical through consumption.

— Are you paying off your credit cards in full every month? A survey by Swagbucks found that 63 percent of Americans go into debt during the holidays.

If you have outstanding credit card balances that you are carrying forward every month, you absolutely should not be spending anything for the holidays. You definitely shouldn’t be putting any additional charges on the card or cards — even if your card has a zero percent interest rate.

Read full article here.

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