MOVING UP: Paying for Christmas Without Breaking the Bank

Image of a ton of gift cards.

Jason Tester Guerilla Futures/ Flickr

As the Christmas season approaches, many people begin thinking about shopping for gifts. This is especially tough for those with little discretionary income. There are some ways to reduce the cost of shopping and keep you from getting deep in debt.

The first is layaway, a holiday tradition much like trees and big family Christmas dinners. It is a popular concept, especially for families with poor or no credit. You put an amount down and pay the balance down over several payments. It operates like credit in many ways except that with credit, you get to take the item home right away. With layaway, you have to wait until it is paid off. Layaway usually does not involve interest, but there are other fees, from a service fee for starting to a down payment requirement. Wal-Mart, for example, requires 10 percent or $10, whichever is greater. Some merchants also have a cancellation fee. You want to check to see if the store allows layaway on the day after Thanksgiving (Wal-Mart did not allow it in 2014). You will want to make sure to save some money over 2016; maybe $5-10 a paycheck (or whatever you can reasonably afford in order to have the money in hand for the 2016 Christmas season.

Another option is to give gift cards. These are often available in smaller denominations and they can be an excellent tool for teaching children and teenagers the value of money. You will be teaching them how to price check and how to make sure they have enough for what they want to buy.

You can also give gifts that have financing involved (smartphones is one example); this will limit how much upfront cash you pay and the cost is reasonable. If you are worried about debt, you can just pay your minimum payment (which is usually added to your cell phone bill) until the spring when you get your tax refund and can pay the balance off.

There are going to be people reading this who absolutely have no money at all to purchase gifts. Fortunately, there are many organizations that can help provide a gift for your child. Many churches have toys and clothing available. Organizations such as Toys for Tots collect toys and money from individual and corporate donors and distributes the toys right before Christmas. It is a wonderful program that has been well run by the Marine Corps and many volunteers nationwide to make a quarter of a billion children very happy over the last 60 years. They will be distributing toys at RFK Stadium from Dec 14-18 from 8am to 4pm and Saturday December 19 from 8am to noon.  If you need help from them, you must register by December 6. You can get more info from their website: toysfortots.org

 


Issues |Family

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