Resolve to budget now for next Christmas, Calgary credit counsellor advises

Albertans appear to have eased off the holiday spending this seasonbut for those who did rack up more debtthan they should have, now is the time to learn lessons from it, says a Calgary-based credit counsellor.

Brian Betzwith Money Mentors saysearly January offers an opportunity to go over bills and get a sense of exactly how much you did spend.

"It's not just presents. It's decorations; it's all sorts of things," he said.

"Did you factor in what it cost to wrap your presents? Did you cost the extra food? The alcohol? Travel expenses?"

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Getting a better sense of the true cost of Christmas can help you build a better budget for the next holiday season, Betz says.

On the whole, though, he says many Albertanshave reined in the credit cards. While delinquencyrates are up slightly recently, he says people with debt aren't piling on more.

"While we may see some individuals who have overspent on the Christmasholidays,I think that most people understand the current state of the economy," Betz said.

Sales data for December isn't available yet but an Ipsos polldone for ATB Financial in November found four in 10 Albertans planned to spend less this season than the previous one.

Among those who said they were planning to reduce their holiday spending,84 per centcited the economic downturn as a reason.

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