Manage Christmas Debt

Along comes Christmas and we like to think we are in control and that we are not going to be overspending this year like we did last year! Is that true? Did you rack up any unexpected Christmas debt last year?

Most people start out with the best of intentions but the truth is that for one reason or another time slips away and before we know it, we are rushing around buying presents at the last minute. Buying presents in a rush is one of the easiest ways to start spending a lot more than you intended. That happens because:

• Shops market to sell and we fall for it – impulse shopping accounts for a lot of Christmas debt due to overspending
• Tiredness takes over at the end of a shopping day and you stop watching the dollars because you just want to get home and put your feet up, so in the end you spend more than intended
• If you spend more than intended you probably have to use a credit card, but you know you will pay if off soon don’t you? Although that is what most of us think, the actual fact is that it can be up to six or seven months before you manage to pay if all off
• You don’t go out with a list and buy haphazardly, so not only you risk spending too much, you are spending money on presents that probably won’t even get used
• If you leave your shopping til the last week the ‘crazy season’ really kicks in and with all the plans for celebrations and so forth, you will find any plans you had for organised spending just fall in a heap, so start your shopping early. Buy one present a week and you will hardly notice the cost going out of your pay packet (well, not as much as at Christmas anyway!)

If you find the need to use a credit card to get you through the Christmas season, it is a good idea to start buying as early as September because that will then spread out your repayments from October right through to January or February and that will make the cost of Christmas so much easier to absorb.

An alternative to shopping in a busy, bustling shopping centre is to shop online where you have time to select your products and you don’t have the pressure that you get when shopping in the shopping malls.

If you feel you have to use a credit card for your Christmas debt try and use a card that has the lowest interest rate just in case you have to carry over a balance. Store credit cards are known for their high interest rates, so do be careful and don’t fall for the ‘special offers’ that they try and entice you with.

• Guide To Christmas Spending
  

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• Low Interest AND Rewards this Christmas?
  

  Australians with a low interest credit card tend to get slumped about a lack of rewards from their spending.
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  People with a rewards credit card earn lots of rewards for Christmas, but may pay the price in higher interest rates that tend to come with reward cards.
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  Get the best of both worlds with a couple of credit cards which offer both a low interest rate, and a rewards program.
  -Click here to find out what cards you can take advantage of this holiday season.



• The New Top Christmas Credit Card
  

  Today, Aussie unveiled their new promotion which lines up perfectly for some quality christmas savings: 0% on purchases for the first 6 months if you apply for an Aussie MasterCard before December 16th. For the time being, their balance transfer offer has been removed, making access to the 0% interest rate much easier as a balance transfer isn’t required.





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Editor's Choice: Our Top Credit Cards




Credit Card	Card Details	Interest Rate (p.a.)	Cash Advance Rate (p.a.)	Balance Transfer Rate (p.a.)	Annual fee	Interest free days (up to)
HSBC Credit Card	Editor's Choice: 0% for 6 months Balance Transfer & No Annual Fee Featuring a $0 annual fee for life, and 0% p.a. balance transfer for 6 months, the HSBC Credit Card was voted the Best Transactor Credit Card for 2010.	16.99%	20.75%	0% for 6 months	$0	55
Suncorp Clear Options Standard Visa Card	A great 12 month balance transfer offer, combined with a low annual fee and a good interest rate on purchases.	12.24%	17.99%	1.9% for 12 months	$39	0