Watertown— During the holidays people tend to overspend and are not careful to make the right financial choices. ABC50 spoke with local financial planner, Kenneth Piarulli who has been working as a Certified Financial Planner (CFP) with Ameriprise for 28 years.
According to Mr. Piarulli, during the holiday season the most important thing to do is to have a budget and stick to it. It is hard when you do not stick with a budget; this is when people often come into Mr. Piarulli’s office overwhelmed with debt. “Remember some of the best gifts do not cost a lot of money. When you put a lot of thought into something, then you will be able to spend less money with more sentimental meaning”, said Mr. Piarulli.
However, regardless of this simple advice, Piarulli stated that people still tend to “over do it” and then they get their credit card bill in January and are shocked by how much they actually spent. You have to think how are you going to pay off the credit card bill now and prepare to not repeat the same mistake next year. There are Christmas clubs that are available for individuals looking to save for Christmas.
A Christmas club is not an actual club; rather it is a bank account that allows folks to put money aside into the account for Christmas shopping. “People guess ‘low’ when I ask them how much money they spend during Christmas time, when in reality they spend way more than they realize and their credit card bill reflects this”, said Piarulli. According to Mr. Piarulli, if you do have money in your savings account, it is best to pay off all of your credit card debt because credit card debt is the worst debt to have.
Perhaps, you are one that have already added to your credit card debt this festive season. Maybe next year, you can prevent overspending and getting into debt due to the holidays. Considering sticking to a budget, or putting money aside into a holiday account such as a Christmas club, are some simple ways you can avoid getting yourself into debt.
