Money Talks

Today’s show will have two parts: since we’re in the middle of Hanukkah and Christmas is coming soon we’ll discuss “Holiday Spending Without Adding to Your Debt”. Then we’ll move on to “Tips for Paying Down Holiday Debt”. Money Talks welcomes back Bruce McClary, a Senior Vice President at National Foundation for Credit Counseling. Our resident experts are also on hand for personal finance questions. https://www.nfcc.org/

https://www.nfcc.org/blog/holiday-spending-without-adding-to-your-debt/

https://www.nfcc.org/blog/3-tips-for-paying-down-holiday-debt/

Bruce spoke with us about Pandemic Student Loans on March 9th of 2021 http://moneytalks.mpbonline.org/episodes/money-talks-pandemic-student-loans and Credit Counseling on May 12th of 2020 http://moneytalks.mpbonline.org/episodes/money-talks-credit-counseling

Holiday debt is a problem for many Mississippians. Money Talks has discussed this topic two other times: June 29th of 2021 http://moneytalks.mpbonline.org/episodes/money-talks-avoiding-holiday-debt and October 8th of 2019 http://moneytalks.mpbonline.org/episodes/money-talks-holiday-debt.

From a February survey by money geek dot com - More than one-quarter of Americans regret their level of holiday spending; most wished they’d spent less, but some regret not spending more.

Credit cards were the payment method of choice, with 65% of holiday spending paid for with credit cards. The more credit cards someone had, the more of their spending they financed with credit.

By February 11, 2022, 40% of Americans had not paid off their 2021 holiday debt.

https://www.moneygeek.com/credit-cards/analysis/2022-holiday-debt/