by Ian Elliot
Northern News Services

NNSL (Dec 01/97) - A few days of mad shopping around Christmas can leave more than Rudolph's nose in the red.

Shopping for family and friends in the hectic leadup to Christmas can make for an expensive January, especially once the credit-card bills start coming in, carrying 20 per cent interest or higher on the debts racked up at Yuletide.

Debt counsellors say now is the most dangerous time of the financial year for many people, and a few days in the stores in December can leave a person paying off bills until the coming May -- or never getting the bills paid off at all.

"I think you've just got to watch what you put on your Visa," advises Bert Griffin, a Northern financial planning consultant.

He advises his clients to set up a mutual fund in which they deposit money each month, which can then be used for vacations or gift-giving. The amount can be as small as $50 a month, and at the end of the year, with the earned interest from the fund, the person has a nest egg to pay seasonal bills.

Credit-card debt is one of the most dangerous parts of Christmas, especially with the small-print rules governing them. For instance, if you make a $2,000 purchase and only pay off $1,500, you continue being charged the interest on the full $2,000 until the entire debt is cleared.

Paul Sampson, a Vancouver author, has just published a book of common-sense tips on avoiding consumer debt and devotes a large amount of the book to Christmas strategies.

He identifies Christmas as one of the times when the link between a person's mind and their wallet is at its weakest and counsels that the best defence is to be armed with a plan. That would include drawing up a list of people to shop for before leaving for the store, making -- and more importantly, sticking to -- a budget and making creative handicrafts instead of buying all gifts at a store.

And while it might be too late for this season, he advises that it is better to spread the shopping out over a number of months rather than trying to do it all in one hectic weekend.

For people who have not set up a Christmas fund, Griffin advises that no one should spend more than they have, and they may want to start thinking about next year's Christmas while taking down their decorations.

"If they are in a cash-crunch position this year, they should take it as a lesson for next year."