NOVEMBER 20, 2018 – COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO – Black Friday sales are springing up online and in your local stores. But you still have time to pull together a financial plan for the holidays that will keep your bank account in the black. “A holiday spending plan isn’t just for the benefit of your gift recipients. A good spending plan can reduce stress while helping you make better buying decisions” say Laurent Carrier, a financial planner and owner of Carrier Financial Services LLC in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Here is Laurent’s three most important tips for spending.
1. Check your credit score. It may seem like an unlikely place to begin your holiday preparations, but Laurent Carrier says it’s smart to check your financial pulse before wading into the stores where easy credit is readily available. “There’s a power that comes from knowing where you are,” Carrier says. “That awareness will give you the right level of motivation.” Shoppers who are motivated to maintain or improve their score may find they are less likely to charge purchases or open new credit lines while holiday shopping. Although there are several credit scores available, Laurent recommends people check their FICO score, since it is the one most widely used by lenders.
2. Set a per-person shopping budget. It’s not enough to simply know how much you plan to spend in total for the holiday season. You also need to break that number down by person, says Laurent Carrier. “The more organized you are and the more detailed you are, the better,” he says. That means naming an exact dollar amount for each person on your shopping list and then making sure it balances out with your overall spending budget. “Say I’m only going to spend $150 on each kid,” Laurent says as an example. Then, once you’ve hit that dollar amount, stop shopping for that person. “Remember, in the investment world you set a budget for yourself of the money you want to spend…and then you go looking for the best investments. The same is true here.”
Don’t venture out without alist of specific purchases for each recipient either. “As investors, we’re planners, and we know the best way to avoid stress in any type of situation is to have a plan,” says Carrier. “If you don’t have a list, you’re setting yourself up for a financial disappointment.”
3. Have a plan for credit usage. While many people may have a budget for the holidays, they don’t always have access to all that money upfront. “For instance, if you plan to spend $500 on the holidays, you should put away $100 each week towards your holiday budget,” says Laurent Carrier.
However, that approach means people won’t have cash to do all their shopping until the end of December. In that case, they may want to look to credit options including credit cards, personal loans or other lines of credit. “There’s nothing wrong with using leveraging the buying power of credit cards during the holidays if you don’t go overboard and get yourself into more debt than you’ve planned for” Carrier says.
The holidays are closing in fast, but there is still time to take these proactive steps to avoid finding yourself in a financially stressful situation. And then for next year, Laurent Carrier has some other advice: “Start planning in the summer, honestly.”
About Laurent Carrier and Carrier Financial Services LLC
Laurent Carrier is the owner and founder of Carrier Financial Services LLC. For over 40 years, his mission has been to provide honest, simple financial advice to his clients. As a well-respected community leader, Laurent has served on the board of the American Red Cross and is now on the Advisory Board with the Colorado College Summer Music Festival. He is enthusiastic about supporting non-profit educational organizations locally, nationally, and internationally.
For more information, contact Carrier Financial Services LLC, 919 North Weber Street, Colorado Springs, Colorado 80903. 719-249-4774 or visit online at www.carrierfinancial.com
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