With the December holidays around the corner, here are some valuable tips to take into consideration for your finances for December and January:

1. Set holiday spending limits: Give your credit card and your mind a holiday by limiting what you buy to what can safely come out of your bank account. Use this opportunity to create or get your budget into fighting shape, and use it to decide how much money you can afford to spend.

2. Providing personalised gifts: A small, thoughtful gift is worth more than an expensive gift that someone may never use. Avoid impulses to shop at trendy stores and start the holiday by taking a moment to think about what those on your list could really use.

3. Giving the gift of your time: Your family and friends might love nothing more than a visit from you. Another idea? Write up a “free night of babysitting” card for your family members with young children, or “good for a home-cooked meal” certificate for your widowed aunt that can be used when the time is right.

Bottom line: don’t let your debt become the Grinch that robs the fun from your holiday season. 

Base your gift buying on sentiment rather than dollar value and avoid giving yourself a year-round debt headache. 

If you can follow these tips, when your holiday bank and credit card statements arrive in the New Year, you’ll find yourself singing “Joy to the World” all over again