Money Talks News may earn commission or revenue through links in the content below. Our editorial team independently selects all products. Compensation does not influence our recommendations.
Suze Orman has a warning for anyone already making a holiday shopping list.
“True generosity requires that giving be generous to the giver as well as the recipient” (1).
Sorry, Suze, but that’s ridiculous. True generosity doesn’t have to be generous to the giver. Giving up something you’d have liked for yourself, so someone you love can have it, is pretty much the definition of generosity.
Tortured logic aside, however, her money point is dead on. A gift you can’t afford may be generous, but it’s also a debt, and you’re the one paying the interest.
I’ve been a CPA since 1981, and I once served on the advisory board of our local Consumer Credit Counseling Service. On the credit card part, I agree with Suze completely.
Here’s why. According to the Federal Reserve, in the second quarter of 2026, credit card accounts at commercial banks carried an average rate of 22.15% (2).
And Americans are already carrying plenty. Credit card balances rose $21 billion to $1.26 trillion in the second quarter, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reported (3).
Here are 5 ways to give generously this year without paying for it for years.
1. If you’re already carrying a balance, don’t add to it
If you already owe money on your cards, holiday charges just get added to the pile, and you pay interest on all of it.
If your card debt has grown past the point where you can see a way out, professional help is worth a look.
If you have $15,000 or more in unsecured debt, National Debt Relief offers a free review: A debt specialist looks at your situation and, if they can help, builds a plan and estimates when you could be debt-free. There’s no upfront fee and no obligation to get started.
One honest caution: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau warns that debt settlement “can have a negative impact on your credit scores and your ability to get credit in the future” (4).
Ask exactly how a program works, and what it costs, before you sign up.
2. Do the math before you swipe
Say you put $1,000 of gifts on a card charging 22.15% and pay $50 a month. It takes 26 months to pay off, and you’ll pay about $260 in interest. Pay $100 a month instead, and it’s 12 months and about $116.
Your statement shows you this, too. Card issuers must tell you “how long it will take you to pay off your current balance if you make no further charges and pay only the minimum amount due each month,” according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (5).
If you’re already carrying a balance at that kind of rate, a 0% intro APR card can buy you time to pay it down.
One option, the Discover it® Cash Back card, offers 0% intro APR on purchases and balance transfers for 15 months, then a variable APR of 18.74% to 28.74%. A balance transfer fee applies, and there’s no annual fee. See the card's terms.
The catch: If you don’t pay it off before the intro period ends, you’re right back where you started. Use it to get out of debt, not to buy more gifts.
3. Set a holiday budget, and find the money first
The Orman post suggests that “maybe this is the year to try a mini-budget for what you will spend” (1). I’d go one step further: Find some sources of extra money by plugging spending leaks.
Forgotten streaming services, free trials that never ended, bills that creep up every year — recurring charges are the easiest money leak to miss. Rocket Money connects securely to your accounts and puts every subscription on one screen — cancel the ones you don’t want in a few taps.
It negotiates cable, internet, and phone bills and flags fee hikes before they hit. Members have saved over $880 million in canceled subscriptions to date. Getting started today.
Ten minutes could stop the leak for good. See every subscription now.
Quick aside — most internet financial advice comes from people who weren’t alive during the last recession. I’ve been writing about money for more than 35 years. Want rock-solid advice? Sign up for the free Money Talks Newsletter. Takes 10 seconds. No fluff. No spam.
4. Give something they’ll remember, not something you’ll pay for
“A batch of your favorite holiday cookies along with a personal note is perfection,” the post says (1). And if you’re traveling to see family, the post’s advice is simple: “You are the gift” (1).
Some of the best presents cost very little: a handwritten letter, a family recipe written out, an afternoon together. Nobody keeps a credit card statement as a memento.
5. Tell the family the plan before December
The hardest part of spending less on gifts isn’t the shopping. It’s the conversation.
So have it now. Suggest a dollar limit, a gift exchange where everyone draws one name, or gifts for the kids only. Someone else in the family may have been hoping you’d bring it up.
As the post puts it: “Repeat after me: Who I am is what matters, not what I give” (1).
My honest take
Suze is right, and it’s not even close. A present that’s still on your credit card statement next summer isn’t a gift. It’s a loan with a bow on it.
“What may seem okay in the midst of the holidays can cause plenty of remorse in January when the bills are due,” the post warns (1).
Give what you can pay for in December. The people who love you want your company, not your debt.
Sources: 1. SuzeOrman.com; 2. Federal Reserve; 3. Federal Reserve Bank of New York; 4. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau; 5. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Add a Comment