Holiday shopping season is here with consumers expected to spend
up to$966 billion this year. According to the
National Retail Federation, sticking to a budget can be
challenging this time of year, especially with the allure
of deals and the festivities. But sticking to a
budget is very important. So joining me now with
expert tips on how to navigate this season is David
Peters, financial advisor and founder of David Peters Financial
Group. David. Welcome to the show. Thank
you for having me. All right. So we
know that consumers still expected to dole out a lot
of money. What should they know about creating a
budget that will work for them this holiday season?
Well, I think that uh your the poll here
really sort of illustrated the problem. I think that
the biggest thing is is that people need to think
about how much they want to spend ahead of time
. And probably also uh you know, talking ahead
of time to those people that uh we are to
buy for. So, you know, a lot
of times people are exchanging gifts and so just making
sure that that we've set expectations kind of ahead of
time about what is appropriate to spend. So what's
the best way to plan out what we should buy
and what maybe we should not buy even if the
deal seems attractive. I, I think that the
best way is, is to just uh is to
stick to the budget that we have and uh to
not get outside of it. And uh you know
, the allure of deals, as you said,
I, I think is uh is, is,
is tough to avoid, but that's really what we
need to do. Um Also I think uh making
sure that we don't put things uh onto a credit
card. Uh uh more than uh more than we
than we can afford and making sure that if we
do put things on credit, uh that we're able
to pay those things off right away. Uh I
think is the way to go. A lot of
people come out of holiday season with a lot of
credit card debt. Yeah, it's definitely a tough
time that's for sure. Rates are very high.
We have to remind our viewers decades high. In
fact, in some cases record high that we see
on some of the credit cards. So of course
, everyone's scenario is different. Some people are single
, some people have a large household, a small
household, a lot of things in between. So
what's the best way to approach it, let's say
if you have a large household maybe, versus a
smaller household. Yeah. Well, I, I
come from a big family and, uh, I
can tell you that one of the things that we
do is is, uh, we actually draw names
, uh, to figure out who to buy for
. So, uh, not everybody buys for everybody
else. And so I think that, uh,
that's, uh, one way to kind of control
things and, uh, to try to make sure
that, uh, we're not necessarily blowing everybody's budget
, I think also too, you know, being
creative on uh gift giving, I think, uh
and uh the holiday season and how we spend time
together, uh can also uh offer some opportunities as
well. Uh So, you know, sometimes,
uh with uh larger families maybe doing an activity together
, uh or, you know, perhaps, uh
deciding to do a charitable event together that sometimes that
can, uh that can be a good substitute for
gift gifting without blowing anybody's budget. And let's just
remind our viewers here, David best practices when it
comes to using a credit card, especially this time
of year. Yeah, so, I mean,
if we need to use credit cards, I mean
, credit cards are convenient and so, uh obviously
, uh especially if we're doing things like shopping online
. Uh credit cards are gonna be something that it's
gonna be pretty hard to avoid. I think that
the big thing though to watch out for is,
is just making sure that we understand that we gotta
pay that money back. And so if we,
and pay off those credit cards right away, I
think that that uh helps us visualize how much we're
really spending. And so that it doesn't get out
of control, I think also watching out for uh
promotional APR S and uh, and things like that
, uh can is important as well because uh those
promotional APR S go away pretty quick. Right.
So what do our viewers need to know if they
are enticed by some of these deals? Just on
the credit card alone, uh, let alone some
of the products that they wanna buy. Well,
just keep in mind that, uh, the promotions
do have a limit and, uh, eventually you're
gonna have to pay that money back. And so
we just wanna make sure that, uh, that
, uh, if we do take advantage of something
like a promotional apr that again, we, we
try to pay that off right away, uh,
making sure that you manage your cash flow, especially
during holiday time is very important. Uh, as
you said, Kristen, I mean, people tend
to spend a lot of money during this time and
it's not unusual to carry a lot of debt into
the New Year and that's no way to start.
And so, uh, I think, uh,
just making sure that, uh, we are tracking
everything that we're spending and, uh, that we
stick to the limits that we have set out.
That's gonna be the, the best way for us
to navigate the holiday season. Any advice for how
to take advantage of Black Friday and Cyber Monday without
it taking advantage of you. Yeah, I think
that, uh, you know, the, the
deals that are out there on Black Friday and Cyber
Monday can be, can be great, I think
. Uh, but, uh, you know,
getting back to the poll that, uh, that
we started with, I mean, a lot of
people just haven't even thought about how much they want
to spend. And so I do think getting in
, uh, you know, ahead of time and
just making sure that we know what we want to
spend, uh, is important. Uh, if
we are, uh, trying to take advantage of
maybe things like travel deals and things like that,
uh, that's, uh, also can be something
that we can take advantage of here in the next
couple of days if you need to travel, traveling
, uh, in the middle of the week can
sometimes save us money. Um, so there,
there are some ways to, uh, to not
get carried away, but I think it, it
takes some discipline and it thinks it takes, uh
, thinking about what we want to spend ahead of
time. Ok. What should people know about buying
gift cards as presents? So, I, I
think that, uh, gift cards, uh,
can sometimes be a great gift. I think that
, uh, one thing to know is is that
, uh, if you do have a balance left
on a gift card, uh, there are some
, uh, websites, uh, that, uh
, will buy, uh, that, uh,
remaining balance, uh, from you. Not for
the full amount but, uh, but, uh
, for, uh, for, uh, for
something, um, so I think the gift cards
can, can work well. Um, but,
uh, again it's, uh, it's about setting
limits on our spending, uh, more than,
uh more than anything else. Um And so I
think, uh uh if uh uh if uh a
gift card is, uh, is uh the way
to go, then I think, uh then I
think that that's just fine. Go to gifts for
the holidays, David. I'm sure you have some
creative answers here knowing that you come from a large
family. Right? So I think gift giving is
something that you might be very good at. Yeah
. Well, I, I am a financial advisor
through and through and so, uh a lot of
times, uh what, uh what I like to
uh uh to give is uh if I can make
contributions to a Roth Ira uh for one of my
family members, uh that's, uh, that's something
that I like to do. Also making contributions to
donor advise funds uh for some of my family members
and some of my friends who uh like to give
to charity, they can choose uh where that money
goes. Uh Those are, are gifts that I
like to give. Um and uh also too uh
making uh contributions to 529 plans, especially for kids
. Uh I think is great, especially with the
high cost of education right now. Very good tips
. David Peter, financial advisor and founder of David
Peter Financial Group. Thank you.