There are certain times during the year when your bank account takes a formidable hit; vacation, tax time and Christmas are three of the most damaging.
Planning ahead for these events can help you limit your reliance on credit and remain out of the red.
For most Canadians, the next big spending season is Christmas.
With gifts, food and decorations to be bought, Christmas is by far the most expensive holiday of the year.
NPD Group, a market research company, estimated in 2010 that the average Canadian will spend $599 dollars on Christmas related spending.
That is a considerable amount of money for one day of the year.
A separate survey, reported in Home Cents magazine and published by Environics, found that 23 per cent of Canadians will use credit cards for their Christmas purchases.
This can be attributed to the ease of credit spending and the growing increase in online shopping.
Unfortunately, with credit use comes interest, an unnecessary addition to Christmas costs.
Planning for the winter holiday, even though it is months away, can save you bundles and reduce your reliance on credit cards.
Organization is at the heart of saving for the Christmas season.
Start with a list of the people you plan to buy gifts for.
Then order them according to how much you want to spend on each person (this may seem like a move out of Scrooge's handbook, but it will help you realize who you need to save for).
Once you have your list and a rough idea of how much you want to spend on each person, tally the gift prices.
This is your gift budget.
Stick to it! Next, factor in all your additional costs; food, travel, decorations, exterior lights and any other cost you can think of.
Add this tally to the gift sum and - voila - you have your estimated Christmas cost.
If your bank account is able to absorb this tally with little or no impact, then you are in the minority.
If you are like most Canadians, seeing this number will give you cause for concern.
One way to reduce it, is to go back to your list and lower the amount you plan to spend on shopping.
Once you have a reasonable number, start making a savings plan.
You can start the saving process by deciding on a manageable sum to set aside each week.
Count the weeks left till Christmas and figure out how much you will have the week before St.
Nick makes yearly visits.
Is your sum less than your estimated Christmas cost? If it is, start looking for ways to reduce your everyday living costs.
A great way to save before Christmas is to adopt a 'lent' like approach.
Make a strong commitment to give-up some of your vices.
Try not drinking for two months, attempt to quit smoking and or reduce your entertainment expenditures.
Still not satisfied? Use the Internet to your advantage this year.
Look for deals online well ahead of the Christmas shopping season.
Give yourself time to comparison shop.
Last minute shopping can often lead to impulse spending.
If you do use your credit card online, pay off the bill early to avoid interest payments.
Buy gifts one month, decorations the next and save your food costs for December.
This will make your payments more manageable.
When the 25th finally arrives, use Skype to call friends and family abroad.
Follow these tips and enter the New Year with a positive balance.