The idea is not to achieve more debt as the end of the year approaches, but to end the year on a financially positive step. You can still concentrate on one bill now and make a dedicated effort. Perhaps it will only take you one or two months to pay it off. Regardless, pay it off. Then the money you placed towards that bill use to purchase your holiday items.

I can assure you with the latest round of hurricanes that happened consumables are bound to go up. When I was recently in my home state of Louisiana, retailers were having trouble keeping food on the shelves. It will not be long before this happens in other states.

Do not charge your holiday shopping because when January comes and you receive those bills, you could end up disgusted. More than likely you will not pay the bill right off. Eventually whatever you charged ends up costing you more than the original price. Does it make sense to pay two times the amount for a product?

For example, last year my husband and I found some gift baskets that we really liked in a magazine. We were going to order them and looked at what the shipping costs would be. We decided to shop around at some of our local stores and found those baskets. We sat down and made up a list of clients and relatives that should receive them. Then we began purchasing them in small increments. We were done with our clients and family by December 1.

Do not add more bills to your financial situation, begin a new start and take steps to remove financial stress. To plan for the holidays you should:

1) Make a plan now even if it is the beginning October, (its not too late) about what you are going to purchase

2) Shop around to see who has the better bargain

3) Do not overspend

4) Do not wait to the last minute to shop. I know this will be challenging for those individuals that like those last minute discounts. However, is it really worth fighting all those crowds on December 24th, when you could be done by December 1st.

Once you have gotten your holiday spending done and looking forward to the next year, put some financial goals in place and stick to them. It is less stressful knowing that you can shop early and get what you want, instead of having to take what is left. Remember back in October when you paid off that first bill, now you want to begin working on the next bill. Then every three or four months, you could potentially be working on a new bill. When October comes the next year, you could have paid off two or three bills depending on the time frame you set for yourself and the holidays will be more enjoyable.
About the Author

Dr. Taffy Wagner is the author of Debt Dilemma. Debt Dilemma is her own personal story of how she got into debt and was able to get out without filing bankruptcy. She will be launching a national marketing campaign on October 18, 2005. View her website at http://www.paidoff.net/SpecialPromo.html for further details.