Prepare early for holiday spending: Sudbury financial planner

Christmas and the holiday season may seem like a long way off, but a Sudbury financial planner says to prepare financially, it’s best to think ahead.

Greg Fontaine said Christmas is a ‘significant’ expense for most, and added a lot of people have a tough time dealing with it.

He said the holiday season typically results in more spending — from travel, to food, to alcohol to gifts — and if someone were to add up how much they spend, they would likely be alarmed.

Those costs could rise, depending on how you pay.

“If you factor in some interest because you’re charging some of those things on credit cards, I think the numbers become multiplied significantly,” he said.

Fontaine said there are ways to avoid overspending, and to start keeping track to get a realistic picture of how much money is actually being spent over the holidays.

He said if you realize you’re spending too much, that can bring forward tough choices.

“If you can’t pay for it with money that you’ve saved, is putting it on a credit card the right decision?” he said.

“Or, do you have some difficult discussions with your family about … not buying gifts this year.”

Fontaine said having that conversation with your family can be hard, but said dealing with debt is also tough.

If you have a hard time saving the money yourself in advance, to talk with your bank about having a small amount put into a savings account each pay day, he said.

Fontaine added another approach could be shopping year round and purchasing sale items.