Holiday Shopping Season, Tips | featured news

I know you don’t want to hear this, but Christmas is less than 75 days away. It will be here in a blink of any eye. Right now is a great time to sit down to create a plan for your holiday gift shopping without accumulating a pile of debt.

If you’re like most Americans, your holiday shopping bonanza officially starts Friday, Nov. 25. Or as it’s more commonly known: Black Friday. The precursor to the gift-giving season that is this hallowed Friday seems to be now inexorably tied to the industry I cover: consumer technology and gadgets. Perhaps 30 years ago, the shopping masses were more concerned with gifts of ties, mixers and Mattel toys — but now they seem to only have eyes for the battery-powered, pluggable and 3G-connected.

There’s still a lot of holiday gift buying left to do in the next three weeks. Here are 10 tips designed to help you find the good deals and stretch your holiday dollars.

Are you filling Santa's bag this year using paper or plastic? Millions of Americans will trim the tree this year with a credit card balance still left over from last year. Don't let this be you. It virtually guarantees you aren't saving enough to protect against the many uncertainties in the economy. And chances are, if you're charging up your credit cards, you also aren't investing enough in your retirement and education funds to make sure the future is secure.