A poll that came from AARP said that the older generation will spend around the same amount this Christmas as they did last year.

Of those 65-plus, nearly half (45 percent) say they’ll spend less than $300

“We shop every week and buy gifts all year long,” says Fowler, who retired from IBM in 1990. “We don’t wait till the season. It’s easier, and we get as good a deal as ever because we shop while the stores have sales.”

Most people seem to want to avoid racking up debt this holiday season. More than three-quarters (78 percent) say they plan to buy their gifts with cash, check or a debit card.

Fowler, who lives on Social Security and his pension income, says he always pays cash for holiday gifts. “That’s the way I’ve always been, since the 1950s,” he says. “We don’t have any credit card debt.” – AARP

From these results, there is a lesson to be learned.  We should spend less money on gifts and more time with the ones we love.  We should experience a debt free holiday every year.  We should not wait until the end of the year to shop for Christmas and we shouldn’t use credit cards.

Many people willmax out their credit cards while holiday shopping.  You are now risking going over your credit limit once the finance charges kick in.  When a balance is over 10% to 20% of your credit limit, it has a negative impact on your credit score.

Buying more gifts than you can afford will only cause trouble for you in the near future.

Do not go shopping without a budget.  Going shopping without a limit will make it very easy to charge more than you can afford.  Before leaving your house to go shopping, you should figure out exactly how much you can afford to spend.

Once a budget is made, make sure to keep up with it.  Keep all of your receipts and check your account to make sure you are not spending too much every now and than.

Many are guilty of opening a new account just to get discounts.  Plenty of retail shops try to convince their customers to sign up for the store credit cards for better discounts on purchases.  You will be risking charging more than you can afford, in return affecting your credit score.

Never let someone else go holiday shopping with your credit card.  You won’t have any idea how much they are spending and if your card borrower does not pay, you will have to have extra money to pay for their balance.

Be careful not to leave your card somewhere while shopping.  Your credit card is targeted this time of the year more than ever.  Never let your cards get out of your sight.

If you are using your credit card to buy gifts because you don’t have cash chances are you can’t really afford the gifts anyway. If you don’t have money for gifts, don’t resort to credit. Instead, consider regifting items you’ve received or give homemade gifts.

Charging gifts for yourself because you “deserve” them.  It can be hard walking around the stores for weeks without getting anything for yourself. You’re going to see things you want to buy, but practice some self-discipline. Remember that while you’re out getting gifts for others, there are people out buying gifts for you.

Ignoring your post-holiday billing statement.  If you kept track of how much you spent, you can already guess that your first credit card billing statement will be higher than normal. Facing it sooner rather than later will help you get rid of that high balance sooner rather than later.