Saving for holidays now can help you skip regret later

It's not too late to come up with a plan to save for the holidays

Factoring holiday expenses into your budget all year long is effective for avoiding debt, but it’s not always feasible with a limited budget or unforeseen expenses.

When that’s the case, lacking a strategy for holiday spending can leave you vulnerable to debt and overspending that delays financial goals. But it’s not too late to come up with a lastminute plan to save money for the holidays.

The small end-of-the-year window can offer some time to make money moves that help prevent a holiday debt hangover.

1. ALIGN YOUR HOLIDAY BUDGET WITH FINANCIAL GOALS » When determining how much to spend over the holidays, begin with your budget, suggests Jason Speciner, a certified financial planner at the firm Financial Planning Fort Collins.

“Start with how much money you’re willing to spend — and able to spend — on gift giving and then work your list into that,” he says. “Don’t put the cart before the horse and end up overspending because you’ve, you know, put dozens of people on your gift list,” he says.

If your debt or budget leaves no room for holiday expenses, plan to spend time with people through free holiday activities, make gifts or save with a secret gift exchange. Set expectations early by alerting people to your plans.

Adding to the debt pile during the holidays gets expensive and takes longer to pay off. Strategize how you’ll pay off any debt and prioritize high-interest debt first. With good credit (a FICO score of 690 or higher), a balance transfer credit card lets you move debt from a high-interest credit card to one with a lower interest rate, possibly a 0% intro APR. There’s typically a fee of 3% to 5% assessed for each amount transferred. Without interest, your monthly payments are applied directly to your balance, reducing the time it takes to pay off debt. With less-than-ideal credit, a debt management plan through an accredited nonprofit credit counseling agency may offer relief if you’re struggling to make progress.