Money Monday

Tipoff.

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>> it's tempting but don't do it.

Don't you dare max out that credit card with holiday shopping.

With us for tips on drowning with request holiday debt on this money monday, our resolution attorney with the law group.

Great to see you again.

>> great to see you as well.

>> it's so tempting, and people have been separated from each other and they want to make up for it in gifts, and why shouldn't they do that?

>> so this year more than ever is the year that one should take a step back and give thought to spending.

It has definitely been a year of uncertainty, certainly financially, and we have a potential new administration and changes to the pandemic and with all of that uncertainty, we didn't predict what's going to happen.

So i know this time of year, people want to spend and show their love in the way of buying gifts, but this year more than ever, it makes sense to be a little bit more conservative in spending.

>> i'm glad that you brought up the potential of a new administration at the start of the year, and talk of a lockdown and a stimulus being ready to be presented and so things are quited uncertain indeed.

Let's talk about when you incur credit card debt, that's the easiest way to find yourself drowning in debt.

It's so easy to flash the plastic, but when the bill comes, it takes forever to pay those things down.

>> you're right and there is not anything on the horizon right now that would be a supplement to income and one.

Assumptions that i make, not to rely on governmentip when there's a change coming, and with that, you want to be super conservative about your spending and you want to understand that you might have some consequences if you buy now and set it up for payment later.

So if you don't have the money in your budget so spend, my recommendation would be to cut back and find a way to gift and show your love and appreciation this holiday season in other ways other than spending.

And you might have been able to save money this year on less travel and transportation and you might have moved home and had less housing expense.

So if you've been able to rebudget through the year and have less cash flow, you might be able with your credit card.

It's so easy to get swept away in the moment and find yourself finding more than you budgeted for.

>> we found the same, pay with cash.

It's so hard to let go of the green.

When you don't see your wallet emptying out it's the easiest thing to do, but when you have to pay with crash it limits what you want to spend.

Can we talk about credit cards and why making minimum payments means this you'll be paying on one credit card for 30 years?

>> that's true, you could be making minimum payments for 25, 30 years, assuming that you never even add any other credits onto that credit card balance.

So it's not design to be paid off if you make the minimum payments, because they're less than the interest rate, so the balance is building faster than the payments that you're making and that's why it takes so much time to pay it off.

Keep in mind that if you don't pay off the balances that the things that you purchase may actually cost you more, so if you're waiting for sales and you purchase something on sale, you might be paying more than the original price of the item if you're going to carry it on a credit that has interest rates of 22-30%.

>> good point, the same thing when you use a credit card to pay for groceries or gas, you're going to be paying for it forever.

>> if you pay for corrected detect, it's okay to spend on credit cards.

Though i'm a debt regulation attorney, i'm not against using credit cards.

They can be used effectively and efficiently.

Maybe you want points or get cash back, there are lots of benefits, but the key is to be able to budget and pay it off and know that up x amount of dollars to spend each other within your budget and pay off at the end of the month.

>> welcome back to this money monday, we are welcoming leslie, and talking about budgeting this holiday accept, you don't want to find yourself racking up credit card debt and start a brand new year with that hanging over your head.

There are ways to spend your money wisely, and i want to talk about other tips, maybe in terms of shortening that gift list.

You don't have to give a gift to every you know.

>> not this year.

So with the restrictions on our ability to spend this year, and the uncertainty in the financial world, it's wise to really trim that list down, or find ways and creative ways that you can show your love and appreciation during the holiday season.

So maybe as a family, you agree to buy one person, almost like a secret santa in the family or agree there's a spending limit and it's okay to say to family and friends, hey, this year was challenging for me financially and i don't have the budget that i had last year, and this year, this is what i would like to be able to do, and i would like to be part of the gift giving, but this is my limitation.

>> and you can always do diy gifts.

>> it's great to come together as a family and do something for the household, or do something like shovel ling somebody's driveway or raking their leaves.

Walk a dog, and there are ways to do things and give love that doesn't cost anything.

>> slowing down is not something that we do on a regular basis -- shoveling snow -- but shop early, that's when the sales pop up and the promo codes pop up and why is it bad to wait until the last minute?

>> if you wait until the last my, you could mace out on the pre promotion sales and you might say to yourself, i forgot to buy and all of a sudden, you might feel overwhelmed by the fact that you need to give gifts.

So shop early and put a list together.

And once you've done so, stop facing any attention to those promotions or advertisements, and simply place nem into a special email address so you don't check them after a certain timeframe.

So it's not luring you into spending more.

>> excellent advice, and make sure that you're not judged by a person because of expensive gifts that you give to others.

I want to thank you for joining me today.

>> thank you for having me.

>> and happy holidays.

>> you as well.

>>