Are You Safe For The Holidays?

What can I do this year to get the holiday season right?

Scammers love the holidays even more than the rest of us. People let their security slip a little as they spend a lot. Make sure to check with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) for current scams, and pay cash or use e-payment whenever possible. Triple check all of your credit cards, account statements and your credit report when the season is over.

Get financing ahead of time. Go through your shopping list and figure out how much you want to spend. Then, figure out how you’ll pay for it. How much do you have saved? Do you have enough room on your credit cards? You may want to get one of our credit cards or secure a loan from us. If we can get you a lower interest rate, you can save hundreds of dollars this holiday season. If you’ve got a credit card with rewards you want to earn, you can always move that balance over to one of our cards at a lower rate, so you get all the rewards for less money.

Bake cookies. Like, a lot of cookies. The easiest way to blow through a holiday budget is by spending money on people who are on the fringe of your social circle or random cousins who show up to Grandma’s house in “need” of a present. If you take a Saturday afternoon to bake up a few batches of Christmas cookies and buy a generic box of cards, you’ll be ready for any last-minute gifts without breaking the budget. Plus, if you don’t give them all away, you get a bunch of cookies. Win-win.