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Consolidated Credit Warns Shoppers to Avoid Piling Up Black Friday...

There'ss a silver lining to these tough economic times: retailers are hurting as much, if not more, than shoppers. Black Friday the start of the traditional holiday buying season has already started, along with extended hours at many stores. Sales and discounts are deep and wide-ranging.

The retailers are desperately trying to save the traditional holiday spending boon that happens this time of year. Black Friday is expected to kick off one of the weakest holiday shopping seasons since 2001.Market conditions may trigger more store closures, bankruptcies and an overall retail shakeout, according to analysts, but shoppers may be lured into stores because of the price slashing, door-buster sales and over-all great deals.

Consumers must remember that they may end up in worse shape if they over use their credit cards for holiday deals, Howard Dvorkin, author and founder of the non-profit Consolidated Credit Counseling Services (http://www.consolidatedcredit.org/), warns. If you go out and charge a $1,000 this holiday season and are paying the minimum amount due with an 18% interest rate, it would take over 19 years to pay the credit card debt off and you would have repaid the creditor almost triple - $2,900. If that doesn'st dissuade people from overspending - I don'st know what will. Consumers who start their holiday shopping without a strategy will likely end up adding to their debt load, says Dvorkin.

Shopping tips to stay debt free this holiday (http://www.consolidatedcredit.org/debt-learning-center/holiday-budgeting.aspx).

Carry only one credit card to consolidate your holiday spending. Using several credit cards simultaneously can make it difficult to keep track of your spending. Think before using credit cards to take advantage of Black Friday sales.

Comparison-shop, particularly for large ticket items. It'ss good to take advantage of these opportunities, but always ask yourself, Would I buy this if it weren'st on sale

Look at your credit situation to determine if you can comfortably take on more credit card debt. As a rule of thumb, your total installment debt (e.g., credit cards, auto loans, student loans) shouldn'st exceed 20 percent of your annual take-home pay.

To avoid going overboard on Black Friday sales:

- Determine your budget,

- Communicate with family members and

- Decide the total amount of money you have to spend for gifts.

- If you decide to use credit, only borrow what you can repay within 60 to 90 days.

Consolidated Credit Counseling Services, Inc. is an 15-year old company that assists families throughout the United States in ending financial hardships through education and professional counseling. The survey was taken from a compilation of Consolidated clients. For more information about Consolidated Credit Counseling Services, Inc., go to www.ConsolidatedCredit.org.

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