The White Falcon - 05.12.1986, Blaðsíða 6

Avoiding holiday
debt hassles
by Lt. Cmdr. John Woodhouse
Navy Editor Service
"I just don't know how I'm gonna get through this
holiday season in one piece," Willie Files said to
Bill Spread as they were decorating the office tree
one morning.
"What d'ya mean by that?" asked the chief
yeoman.
“Expenses," began the 2nd class personnelman.
"My budget seems to be stretched to the breaking
point this year, even before worrying about the
extra expenses of the holiday season."
"Yeah, that can be a problem," replied Spread.
"You've just gotta come up with alternatives to
spending a lot of money.”
"The only one I've been able to come up with so
far is the extensive use of plastic," said Files
sardonically.
"Plastic? Oh, you mean credit cards," said the
chief. "Not a very good idea.“
"I realize that," said Files, reaching for another
ornament. "But what're ya gonna do? The wife and
kids expect certain things to happen at this time of
year."
"The problem is that, all too often, we get
ourselves in too deep to the credit guys over the
holidays and spend the next 12 months just trying to
recover.
"My wife and I did that one year," Spread
continued, "and the following year was just
miserable tryin' to get even again."
"I certainly don't want to do that," agreed Files.
"I just don't see many alternatives."
"I'm- not saying you can't make use of a judicious
and responsible level of credit," said the chief.
"You just have to ensure that you keep a complete
realization of how deep you are diggin' that old
credit hole while you're doin' it. You dig too deep,
and there's no way to climb back out."
"Yeah, I guess the chances of someone coming
along with a ladder to help you aren't that good,"
said Files.
"And there are ways to celebrate the holidays
and still cut costs. You could look at making gifts.
People usually appreciate baked goods and
handmade items more anyway because they tend to
reflect more thought.
“One of the things my wife gave me during one of
our lean years was a book of coupons she had made
up," continued the chief. “Each of the coupons was
for things like a breakfast in bed, a guaranteed late
sleep-in one morning, a hot lunch delivered to work
on the day of my choice. I appreciated those
coupons that I redeemed throughout the coming
year far more than I would ever have a tie or other
traditional gifts."
"I'll have to give it some thought; maybe things
aren't as grim as I thought," said Files. "After all,
this is a season for more important things than
money can provide. Thanks, Chief."
"No problem, Files. Now let's get this tree
finished and get home. 1 think I've just thought of a
way to make my own holiday more meaningful this
year, too."
Commentary reprinted from the Dec. 16. 1982,
issue of the Trident Tides.
Just saying
charge it
adds up$$$
6
The White Falcon