Holiday Budgeting 2019:

8 Tips to Save More

Reduce your holiday stress with these strategies to help you keep from overspending.

By Ellen Chang-The Street

"The holidays can be a stressful time as consumers ramp up their spending for gifts and travel and face extra bills in the new year.

Here are eight tips on how you can save money during the holiday season so you can enjoy them and spend less time worried about those credit card bills." Excerpt from article

Holiday Shopping, Phishing, and Malware Scams

Original release date: November 08, 2019

CISA-Posting-11/8/2019

As this holiday season approaches, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) encourages users to be aware of potential holiday scams and malicious cyber campaigns, particularly when browsing or shopping online. Cyber actors may send emails and ecards containing malicious links or attachments infected with malware or may send spoofed emails requesting support for fraudulent charities or causes.

CISA encourages users to remain vigilant and take the following precautions:

• Avoid clicking on links in unsolicited emails and be wary of email attachments (see Using Caution with Email Attachments and Avoiding Social Engineering and Phishing Scams).
• Use caution when shopping online (see Shopping Safely Online).
• Verify a charity’s authenticity before making donations. Review the Federal Trade Commission's page on Charity Scams for more information.

7 Ways To Make This Holiday Season Less Stressful

BY MIRIAM CALDWELL

"The holidays season can be stressful for so many reasons: the additional time commitments, the extra time spent with your extended family, not to mention the additional financial strain.Planning for the holidays with a clear budget in mind can at least help with one of those stressors – reducing the financial stress of the holidays. Planning ahead can also reduce your holiday expenses without making it feel as though you have cut your Christmas back to nothing." -Excerpt from article

A Minimalist Christmas: Our Before and After Story

By Abundant Life With Less Blog

"There are a lot of expectations when it comes to what a minimalist Christmas is supposed to look like. Here’s a look at how minimalism transformed Christmas in our home and 3 strategies to help you fill this season with intentionality rather than accumulation.

In this real life of mine we adore the holiday season with all it’s giving and receiving. While our shift toward a minimalist mindset has certainly decreased the quantity, it’s improved the quality and intentionality with which we give gifts." Excerpt from Blog Post

Christmas in Door County: Here are 7 festivals making the peninsula a holiday wonderland

By Christopher Clough, Green Bay Press-Gazette

"DOOR COUNTY - Don't look now, but the holiday season is fast approaching.

In Door County, that means a season of community organizations lighting Christmas trees, holding parades, welcoming a bearded old-timer in a red suit, serving treats and more.

Holiday festivals are scheduled for three straight weekends from one end of the Peninsula to the other, starting the weekend before Thanksgiving.

Here's your roundup of the seasonal festivities the county has to offer." Excerpt from article

Pay It Down!: Debt-Free on $10 a Day 

By Jean Chatzky

Chatzky is focusing on debt because it’s the single biggest threat to our financial health. The average American family has sixteen credit cards and high-rate debt of more than $8000, not even counting car loans and mortgages. They pay more than $1000 a year in interest alone. Debt makes people feel depressed and overwhelmed, leaving them without enough money for the truly important things in life—education, retirement, owning a home, feeling secure. Chatzky, one of America’s most popular personal finance experts, writes in down- to- earth, woman-next-door language about how to get started right away, without giving up the things that truly give you pleasure. She offers practical, accessible strategies to help readers find the money to pay off their bills, lower their interest rates, and improve their credit scores." Amazon

NWTC-Learning In Retirement Course

Thursday, December 5th

Fixed Income: When 'Fixed Income' translates to Living Below Your Means

This 2 part workshop will walk you through an individualized budget plan based off a potential "fixed income' retirement.  Whether you are retired or looking to become, you will build a budget based on your current spending.  After you finalize your budget and spending plan we'll walk you through different ways to use a put and take saving that works for you.  Lastly we'll cover resources in our community and inventive ways to improve you saving and spending skills to make those dollars go farther.