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With one month left til Christmas. Most shoppers will be out in full affect looking for that perfect gift for their families and loved ones. This time of year is the busiest time for credit card companies and thieves. Make sure that if you are shopping and swiping the stripe that you do so at major retailers that are trusted. The last thing you need is to be settling wrong bills in the new year.

Here are a few tips to remember when using your cards.

1) Dont pass your cards to your kids to shop.

2) Always get retailer to do the transaction in front of you

3) Never use your card for payments on the phone and pass off personal info

4) Guard the cards like cash

If you stick to these simple rules shopping will be easy and fraud should be nill. Merry Christmas to all.

There is one sure fire way that you can save a bundle over this holiday season. Tell everyone that you have converted to be Jewish or a Muslim…hahaha. Now back to reality. Since this is not an option here are a few simple things you could try before breaking the bank.

1) Make a list of how much money you plan to spend in total and then divide that money up between the amount of people that you need to buy for.

2) Pay for everything in cash.  It is way too easy to swipe the card and run over budget. Dont be an idiot and buy now and worry later.

3) Ease up on the booze. No need to drink tons and  hurt your wallet while getting fat.

4) Do a secret Santa. My friends and I tried this a few years back and it worked great since we could end up spending more on one person and buy things that were really cool. Instead of getting everyone something small. Lets be honest would you rather have some crappy shirt from the GAP or PS3. Case closed.

5) Shop online. Not only do you get to avoid all the hassles with crowds, parking and the dreaded mall. Most online retailers have incentives like free shipping or even discounted prices. Since their overhead tends to be lower they end up passing the savings to you the consumer.

Best of luck to all with your Christmas shopping. And if you do end up splurging and spending more then you wanted…dont worry you can always file for bankruptcy.