A Message from Bob Dreizler, Chartered Financial Consultant:

For more than two decades, I've helped people seek financial security while honoring their emotional and social concerns. During this time, I looked for but never found a practical and engaging money management book I could recommend to my clients, so I wrote Tending Your Money Garden.

As a specialist in socially conscious investing, I enjoy educating people about how their investing habits can impact more than just their assets. I hope this column will help you enhance your financial situation so you can fulfill your dreams.

Credit Free Holidays

As cardboard Santas replace Halloween ghosts and holiday carols fill the air inside shopping malls, we know that the season has arrived--credit card season.

It's hard to resist the marketing blitz that bombards our senses with the not-so-subtle message, "buy, buy, buy." One way to combat these prompts is to use cash instead of credit cards.

The holiday season is a time that underscores the Primary Law of Personal Economics: NO ONE HAS ENOUGH MONEY.

You have two responses to this Law:

Strategy #1: do not buy anything unless you have the money to pay for it.
Strategy #2: purchase what you want now and worry about how to pay for it later.

This is the perfect time of year to convert to cash--consider the many benefits of cash shopping:

Your checkout process is quicker.
You are less likely to splurge on purchases that aren't warranted.
You know how much you have to spend.
You will have more spending cash available after the New Year when you would otherwise be paying off credit card bills.

If you are concerned about security when paying by cash, give yourself a spending limit before each shopping trip and set aside sufficient funds to pay off your card in full.

Some people can use credit cards responsibly. For others, credit card abuse is an addiction that's tough to kick--especially when unsolicited credit applications and pre-approved cards seem to arrive in the mail daily.

If you need to limit your spending, switch to a cash basis immediately. This means if you don't have the cash, don't buy it. Use debt sparingly or not at all. If you do charge something, pay the bill in full as soon as it arrives.

Freeze Your Credit
One way to avoid impulsive spending is to put your lone credit card in a plastic glass, fill the glass with water and put it in your freezer. Write a note to yourself and wrap it around the outside of the glass. List the circumstances that will allow you to use the card, such as:

Medical costs in a health emergency.
Airline tickets to visit a relative in need.
Vacation expenses when you don't want to carry cash or traveler's checks.
A purchase that is both affordable and necessary.

The rules are up to you, but then it's up to you to abide by them.

If you have the urge to use your card, you must wait until the ice melts, and by then the impulse may have passed.

Note: Using a microwave is cheating and may damage the card.

If you ring in the New Year with no holiday debt, you've given yourself the best gift of all.