Credit to Dave Ramsey @ DaveRamsey.com

If you pay for your holiday festivities with credit, you're bringing a stalker home for Christmas. The holidays will follow you around all year long.

The process usually goes something like this:

You buy costumes and decorations for Halloween, a feast for Thanksgiving, and Christmas gifts for your family, more than likely waiting until the last minute for each occasion and missing the good deals. If you're not on Dave's plan (and, if not, what's stopping you?), you throw everything on the credit card.

In January, the bills start coming in the mail. One by one, the bills remind you of the temporary holiday thrill-rides. Unable to pay everything off at once, you pay the minimums.

By June, you've hardly made a dent in the holiday debt—which has simply been added to all your other miscellaneous debt like student loans, mortgages and the always-dreaded car payment.

By fall, you should be planning ahead for next Christmas. But, instead, you're still dealing with last year's debt—plus all the accumulated debt from the ghosts of Christmases past.

And the cycle continues. That is, until you finally say, "Enough!" No more debt. No more credit. It's time to make a plan early in the year, and then stick to it!

Thanksgiving is always on the fourth Thursday of November. Christmas is always on December 25. These dates never change. There's no excuse for getting caught off-guard and desperately piling up mounds of debt on credit cards.

So let's say you haven't started making a plan for the upcoming holidays yet, but now you are ready to get moving. You've still got time!

Consider some of these holiday shopping ideas:

Research. Before you head to the mall, look for deals online. Visit the websites of the stores you plan to visit, and check out their prices. Don't waste your time shopping at one store if you know the store down the street has a better deal.

Make a budget. This is common-sense stuff, but it's amazing how many people have no financial plan for their spending. They are like an energetic kid in a toy store, grabbing the first toy that looks pretty and tossing it into the shopping cart. In order to work your way out of debt, you must become disciplined during the holiday season. If you must buy for everyone, keep it simple and stay within your means—however meager they may be. Don't get caught up in "bigger is better," or else the bigger debt in January will remind you of how stupid that mindset is.

Use Cash. As Dave always says, you spend less when you use cash. Before you hit the stores, swing by the ATM and pick up a pre-planned amount of money. Then, stop shopping when it's gone! If you've planned ahead and followed the two steps listed above, then using cash should be easy. You'll know what you need to buy and how much it will cost—before you start.

Start now—no, really, right now!—planning for your Thanksgiving and Christmas celebrations. Or, wait until the last minute and celebrate them for months to come by wading through all those bills.

The choice is up to you!

My Coupons are my American Express Card - Don't leave home without them!

Making a list and a budget side by side is helpful too. An example:

$40 ~ Grandma ~ blanket and book
$20 ~ girlfriend ~ Starbucks coffee mug and ground coffee
$10 ~ DS's teacher ~ Glade 3 wick soy candle
$0 ~ hostess gifts for parties ~ items from stockpile
$40 ~ baking supplies for cookies, pies, cakes
$10 ~ DH's friend ~ red wine bottle
$40 ~ paper supplies ~ bows, tape, paper, ect....
$100 ~ DS's gifts
_____________
$240 total expense

* this is just a made up list and costs*

Make a detailed list and then stick to the list. Try to get items on sale, watch the ads and Black Friday deals. Change some of the gift items depending on the sales. Don't even bring your credit cards with you when you go shopping and then you won't be able to use them.

Co-Forum Leader for the Welcome Center and Squeeze Back

I've always waited until the very last minute to buy gifts, and I've ended up putting some on my credit card. But this year, it's definitely gonna be different. I'm only buying for my parents, sister, dh, ds, whomever I get in our family grab bag and my 2 little cousins. I've already set a limit for everyone, and I'm already putting that money aside. My credit card is almost paid off so I don't want to put more money on it.