With increasing demands on our time and purse strings, it’s easy for the holidays to shift from the carefree, joyful period we experienced as children to stress-filled weeks of commitments, frayed emotions, and strained finances. Christmas gift-giving, in particular, has grown from a tradition of thoughtful gestures and tokens of our affection to a multibillion-dollar industry that pressures us to spend beyond our means.
Tom Hodgson, director at Consumer Debt Counselors, a nonprofit offering financial services, said consumer debt has increased to unprecedented levels, particularly credit card debt.
