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Timing is everything when it comes to saving for the holidays. The longer you have to build up cash reserves, plan your budget and buy gifts at the right price, the better you can cover these seasonal costs without going into debt.
Avoiding debt around the holidays can save you from a spending hangover in the new year: Shoppers who used credit cards to fund the holidays in 2018 anticipated it would take them over three months to pay off their debt, according to a NerdWallet survey of over 2,000 adults conducted by The Harris Poll.
Starting a couple of months before peak holiday season might be cutting it a little close for grand savings schemes this year, but you do have options. Here’s how you can plan your spending this year — and start saving for next year’s holidays.
SET YOUR PLAN FOR THIS YEAR
Say you’re planning to kick off shopping in earnest around Black Friday, which falls on Nov. 29 this year. You still have two months for saving and planning. Start with these steps:
SET YOUR HOLIDAY BUDGET
If you don’t have much savings, you’ll likely have to use your discretionary income — what’s left over after regular bills — to fund your holidays. Get a solid understanding of how much that is and try to keep expenses, including gifts and food, within that amount.
Being mindful of what you can afford can keep you from overspending, said Los Angeles-based financial coach Dominique’ Reese.
“I say think about your future self,” Reese said. “How would your future financial self — yourself in January, February, March — feel about the expenses that you made over the holidays?”
To build your holiday budget, trim discretionary expenses over the next couple of months. Cut back on dining out or going to the movies, or temporarily cancel a couple of monthly subscription services.
SPEND SMART
Create a gift list that fits your budget, find good deals, and consider reducing holiday spending on food and gifts across the board to avoid going into debt.
Use your budget to guide your gift list. If your budget is tight, consider whether you can buy for fewer people; maybe you can suggest a get-together instead of a gift exchange with some friends.
Black Friday and Cyber Monday can offer big savings, but you might find better deals at other times. Start checking prices now so you know what’s a good deal — and what to skip.
Being frugal with holiday meal shopping can go far, said Summer Red, professional development manager at the Association for Financial Counseling & Planning Education.
“Food is central to most holiday celebrations, and there are a lot of foods people will buy even though people don’t like it,” Red said. If no one in your family likes the dark meat of a turkey, for example, consider getting specific cuts rather than a whole bird.
“I encourage people to let go of some traditions and focus on what they really enjoy,” she said. “That means you also have less food waste and less money waste.”
SET YOURSELF UP FOR NEXT YEAR
While planning this year’s holidays, start thinking about how you’ll save money next year.
Track your spending to help inform what you’ll need, Reese advises. “If you went over your budget, set aside more for next year,” she said.
Then, find a saving strategy that works for you. Here are a few options:
—The 52-week savings challenge: One of Red’s preferred methods, with this “challenge,” you start by saving $1 the first week of December, then $2 the next week, $3 the following week, and so on, adding one dollar each week for a year. At the end, you’ll have nearly $1,400 to spend for the holidays.
—Holiday savings accounts: Typically offered by credit unions, these savings accounts are generally locked so you can’t access what you’re putting into savings until the holiday season. Putting just $25 a month into one of these gives you $300 saved for the holidays after a year.
—Set aside part of your income: Reese suggests socking away a percentage of your income and automating transfers to build the habit of saving. Having some of your paycheck deposited directly into a savings account by your employer is an easy way to set money aside without thinking about it, too.
—This column was provided to The Associated Press by the personal finance website NerdWallet.

A 20-year-old Morgan City man is the second arrest in connection with a shooting Sunday on Mallard Street in Brownell Homes, Morgan City Police Chief James F. Blair said in a news release.

Mario Williams Jr., 20, of La. 182 in Morgan City, was arrested at 11:04 a.m. Wednesday on warrants for the charges of principal to attempted first-degree murder, armed robbery and armed robbery with use of a firearm.

On Sunday, the Morgan City Police Department received a complaint in reference to a shooting in the area of Mallard Street. When officers arrived, they learned one victim was shot and transported to an area hospital with a gunshot wound that is not life-threatening.

During the course of the investigation, detectives discovered the victim was shot during the course of an armed robbery. Investigators developed Williams as a suspect and obtained an arrest warrant.

On Wednesday, Williams was located at the Morgan City Police Department and placed under arrest. He was jailed.

On Tuesday, Deandre Paul Jackson, 19, of Lydia Street in Morgan City was arrested at 4:46 p.m. on warrants for charges of principal to attempted first-degree murder, armed robbery, and armed robbery with use of a firearm in the case.

The investigation is continuing and the public is urged to contact the Morgan City Police Department at 985-380-4605 with any information.

Louisiana Association of Business and Industry leader Stephen Waguespack has a short answer for what’s on the Oct. 12 primary ballot: “The short answer is a lot,” he told a St. Mary Chamber audience at a Wednesday luncheon.
“What’s the big issue that [LABI] thinks you should face, what our members are facing? And it gets down to one word. You can call it economy, you can call it jobs, you can call it whatever you want, but Louisiana’s economy is the No. 1 name in the game,” Waguespack said.
The Louisiana employment rate is at 4.3% which ranks us at No. 42 in the country.
“The good news is that it is fairly lower in historical terms,” Waguespack said. “The bad news is it is one of the worst in the country. It is really lagging in comparison to the rest of the country.
“When Texas, our neighbor to the west, and yes, even Mississippi sometimes, our neighbor to the east, is growing faster than us that should be a warning sign to us. That is who we compete with for jobs, human capital, and financial capital.
“That is a concern. Other states are growing in this country. Louisiana is not,” Waguespack said.
Louisiana has a workforce participation rate of 58.5%, which is the fourth lowest in the country, Waguespack said.
The solution Waguespack offered is to elect government officials that will make major policy change in government reform, Medicaid, taxes, spending, regulations and mandates, lawsuits, workforce, and infrastructure.
“So how do we fix this trend?” Waguespack asked. “We think as an organization it is some of these policy issues that matter, we think its issues that are going to create a growing economy, create jobs, that’s the best way to keep people here, give them a reason to stay, but that means you have to get into things like government reform and spending.
“We can no longer dance around these policy issues. They are messy, they are controversial, they are tough to solve, but we have to bear hug them and fix them, Waguespack said.
“When you go to the polls,” Waguespack advised, “try to think of which ones of these issues are most important to you and ask tough questions and decide which one of the candidates are going to come in and fix some of these things.”
Waguespack pointed to Louisiana lawsuits.
“We have three times as many lawsuits as Alabama, which is one of our competitor states and rank in the top 10 of a report called the judicial hellhole,” Waguespack said.
This affects every household in Louisiana, including through auto insurance rates.
“Why does it cost so much here?” Waguespack asked.
“Here is why. Our legal system has allowed double the bodily injury rate than the rest of the country. This bodily injury rate is a big cash cow in Louisiana and that big cash cow attracts a lot more lawsuits. They can do this because it is really hard to get a jury in Louisiana. So when you get sued, you go to court, most likely you aren’t going to have a jury in there to hear your case.
“Instead it’s going to be the lawyer that is suing you in front of a judge and your insurance company says we are settling. No jury in the courtroom is a problem we need to fix, if we get more real-world people in the courtroom, and then we will get more real-world decisions coming out of the courtrooms.”
Mayor Duval Arthur Jr. brought up the issue of all the lawyer billboards that are up along Louisiana highways and asked if there was a way to block that much advertisement.
Waguespack responded by saying that legally there is no way to block the advertisement, but if the money would come out of the system, we would see less.
“If we can get the money out of the system, those guys won’t have the money for all the ads. I don’t want to make light of the issue you are bringing up, however, because it is absolutely toxic to our economic development efforts. If you are in Lafayette and you decide you are going to take (U.S.) 90 down to the bayou, what you see is one billboard after another standing on top of empty service yards where there used to be inventory and trucks and workers. It is literally an empty parking lot taunted by the entity that basically drove them out of business.”
At the beginning of the luncheon, the Chamber announced their Administrative Assistant of the Month.
“So many times we take for granted those that we work with on a day-to-day basis, we don’t even think about how important they really are to us. Each month the chamber would like to honor these special people who help make our work day run smoothly,” said Jason Watson, chief financial officer of Patterson State Bank and vice president of the St. Mary Parish Chamber of Commerce.
Jeremy Callais, president of Morgan City Bank, presented the award to Morgan City Bank employee Joyce Williams.