Classifieds

For Ryan Decker, surviving the holiday shopping season is all about planning ahead. In fact, if he sees a gift for one of his two young sons in March, he'll go ahead and buy it, instead of rushing through his shopping list in December.
"It very much eases the burden," he says, making his December bills more manageable because he spreads holiday costs throughout the year.
Decker, a certified financial planner and director of the Center for Financial Literacy at North Central College in Naperville, Illinois, says that without that kind of advance planning, the costs this time of year can quickly overwhelm budgets. "Inflation is eating away at our purchase power, so once you throw in the holiday season, it's a very stressful time."...