November 7, 2025 • 5 mins
With Christmas on its way, the season of spending is fast approaching.
The allure of credit cards becomes stronger at this time of year as people try to figure out how they can afford everything they need to.
Financial planner Lisa Dudson joined Jack Tame to give some advice on how best to balance credit cards and build good habits.
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Speaker 1 (00:07):
You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack Teams podcast
from News Talks.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
That'd be the weather is getting warmer, the strawberries are
getting jiggled, and what seven or eight weeks from Christmas,
which means that spending season is fast approaching, and that
too means that.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
The allure of credit cards for many is stronger than ever.
Our personal finance expert Lisa Dudson is here with us
this morning with a bit of a word of warning. Lisa,
at this time of year.
Speaker 4 (00:36):
Morning, Jack, that doesn't sound like we're off to a
good start.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
As you know, I here to scold us. You just
here just to gently nudge us in the right direction
towards the decisions.
Speaker 4 (00:46):
Absolutely so, definitely a tough time a year, right because
I guess, particularly after the last couple of years, a
lot of us have been doing it really tough, and
you know, the bank accounts are probably a little bit
on the skinny side at the moment, and I guess
you know, there is that temptation to be getting out
there and buying things for your holiday break and for
Chris stay and for gifts, and then wake up in
(01:09):
January and I play your credit card bill and have
a bit of a shock. So I was trying to
find a bit of a balance to that, and I
think that probably the best way to do that is
to give yourself a budget and do a bit of
planning on it, because I think what a lot of
us do is we're getting a bit of a flat
and we run around, you know, and them all just
a few days for christ and think, oh my gosh,
you know what am I going to buy? And you know,
(01:29):
you're often overspend and not think things through. So it's just,
you know, it's a bit painful, I get it, you know,
but just sitting down and going, well, what can I
forward and you know, think about who I need to
buy for and what makes sense. And the other really
good thing that I think is interesting is we buy
a lot of stuff for people that they don't really
need or they don't really want, because we feel that
(01:50):
we need to give them a gift. But what about
a gift of spending time with them, a gift of
you know, babysitting so you know they can get out
with their partner. You know, what about consolidating gifts within
a family so you just find one person for There's
a lot of smart ways that you can cut down,
you know, your expenditure at this time of the year.
Speaker 3 (02:11):
Absolutely, because honestly, I reckon that people are generally on
the same page with that. Like even in our family,
for example, we just go like, for because there are
increasing numbers of kids, right, and so we just say
instead of all the auntle's uncles and aunts giving you
a gift separately, or just do it like a combined
something and it'll be like a board game or something
(02:31):
like that that everyone can play, you know, which kind
of makes sense.
Speaker 4 (02:34):
Yeah, totally, And then you get something that's probably a
little bit more useful. And then I think, you know,
it's part of me. The GREENI in the says, you know,
all these toys that you know, the kids play with
five minute flat and then they landfallactly. I don't think
it's particularly helpful either, but I think it. But they
also you know, whether you would have had a discussion
in your family and planned for that, right, So it
(02:56):
comes back to that planning and actually being organized, so
you know you're starting to deal with it now and
not week for Christmas.
Speaker 3 (03:03):
Yeah, So for credit cards, that means I mean making
a decision like that will obviously mean a little less
pressure on your credit card than you might otherwise have.
But what other kinds of things to just keep an
eye on heading into the silly spending season.
Speaker 4 (03:18):
Well, it's interesting with credit cards because I think the
first credit card came out by Amex and something like
nineteen eight off the top of my head, and it
was called your Flexible Front right, and the IRI and
of that kind of the news with me, and you know,
because they're awesome because they are super flexible, But on
the other side of it, they're pretty painful when you
don't have the money to pay for it or you're
paying a twenty percent interest on it, and I think,
(03:41):
you know it, possibly a better way of dealing it
with it is actually saying, Okay, well my budget's five
hundred dollars, pick a number, and you go to the
ATM and you take out five hundred dollars in cash
if you can, and then you know you've gottually got
the tangible cash to spend and sometimes a get with
more challenging spending it today than what it used to
be with everyone using cards or use a debit card,
(04:02):
because there is a lot of research that says that
if you use cash as opposed to credit, you spend
about twenty percent.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
Less, right, that's interesting, that's that's a lot less. That
is like twenty percent.
Speaker 4 (04:15):
Yeah, yeah, well but you know you take that over
the course of a year and the more subsequently many years.
It's well because it's you think about it. When it's cash,
it's like there's a physicality to it, right, and it's
in your in your wallet, whereas you're tapping and these
days it literally is a tap, right.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
So yeah, it's increasingly frictionless.
Speaker 4 (04:34):
Yes, yes, that's right. And then you know that has
a has a cost at the end of the day.
So you know, taking out cash, I think is a
really great way to manage it if you can do that.
But it really it just comes down to, you know, planning. Yeah,
you know, it's that kind of it's that kind of
boring word. Really, at the end of the day, planning, budgeting,
(04:56):
being organized will just save yourself a lot of grief
in January. And then remembering that most people value time,
you know, gifts that don't need to recost money. Yeah,
experience and experience here, all that stuff is way more
valuable than a lot of the rubbish that we buy
for each other.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
Yeah, no, for sure. Hey, great advice.
Speaker 4 (05:17):
So those are my tips?
Speaker 3 (05:19):
Yeah, very good. It makes a lot of sense, Thank you, Lisa,
and good to get a nice and nearly too, just
because what we should do is we should just we
should just clip this up and then repeat it every
every three weeks leading up to Christmas, because it's especially
for those people who are freaking out four days before
Christmas and are trying to throw money at problems. I
think it's very very good advice. Lisa Dudson, our personal
(05:40):
finance expert, with us this Morning.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
For more from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame, listen live
to news talks that'd be from nine am Saturday, or
follow the podcast on iHeartRadio
You're listening to the Saturday Morning with Jack Teams podcast
from News Talks.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
That'd be the weather is getting warmer, the strawberries are
getting jiggled, and what seven or eight weeks from Christmas,
which means that spending season is fast approaching, and that
too means that.
Speaker 3 (00:24):
The allure of credit cards for many is stronger than ever.
Our personal finance expert Lisa Dudson is here with us
this morning with a bit of a word of warning. Lisa,
at this time of year.
Speaker 4 (00:36):
Morning, Jack, that doesn't sound like we're off to a
good start.
Speaker 3 (00:40):
As you know, I here to scold us. You just
here just to gently nudge us in the right direction
towards the decisions.
Speaker 4 (00:46):
Absolutely so, definitely a tough time a year, right because
I guess, particularly after the last couple of years, a
lot of us have been doing it really tough, and
you know, the bank accounts are probably a little bit
on the skinny side at the moment, and I guess
you know, there is that temptation to be getting out
there and buying things for your holiday break and for
Chris stay and for gifts, and then wake up in
(01:09):
January and I play your credit card bill and have
a bit of a shock. So I was trying to
find a bit of a balance to that, and I
think that probably the best way to do that is
to give yourself a budget and do a bit of
planning on it, because I think what a lot of
us do is we're getting a bit of a flat
and we run around, you know, and them all just
a few days for christ and think, oh my gosh,
you know what am I going to buy? And you know,
(01:29):
you're often overspend and not think things through. So it's just,
you know, it's a bit painful, I get it, you know,
but just sitting down and going, well, what can I
forward and you know, think about who I need to
buy for and what makes sense. And the other really
good thing that I think is interesting is we buy
a lot of stuff for people that they don't really
need or they don't really want, because we feel that
(01:50):
we need to give them a gift. But what about
a gift of spending time with them, a gift of
you know, babysitting so you know they can get out
with their partner. You know, what about consolidating gifts within
a family so you just find one person for There's
a lot of smart ways that you can cut down,
you know, your expenditure at this time of the year.
Speaker 3 (02:11):
Absolutely, because honestly, I reckon that people are generally on
the same page with that. Like even in our family,
for example, we just go like, for because there are
increasing numbers of kids, right, and so we just say
instead of all the auntle's uncles and aunts giving you
a gift separately, or just do it like a combined
something and it'll be like a board game or something
(02:31):
like that that everyone can play, you know, which kind
of makes sense.
Speaker 4 (02:34):
Yeah, totally, And then you get something that's probably a
little bit more useful. And then I think, you know,
it's part of me. The GREENI in the says, you know,
all these toys that you know, the kids play with
five minute flat and then they landfallactly. I don't think
it's particularly helpful either, but I think it. But they
also you know, whether you would have had a discussion
in your family and planned for that, right, So it
(02:56):
comes back to that planning and actually being organized, so
you know you're starting to deal with it now and
not week for Christmas.
Speaker 3 (03:03):
Yeah, So for credit cards, that means I mean making
a decision like that will obviously mean a little less
pressure on your credit card than you might otherwise have.
But what other kinds of things to just keep an
eye on heading into the silly spending season.
Speaker 4 (03:18):
Well, it's interesting with credit cards because I think the
first credit card came out by Amex and something like
nineteen eight off the top of my head, and it
was called your Flexible Front right, and the IRI and
of that kind of the news with me, and you know,
because they're awesome because they are super flexible, But on
the other side of it, they're pretty painful when you
don't have the money to pay for it or you're
paying a twenty percent interest on it, and I think,
(03:41):
you know it, possibly a better way of dealing it
with it is actually saying, Okay, well my budget's five
hundred dollars, pick a number, and you go to the
ATM and you take out five hundred dollars in cash
if you can, and then you know you've gottually got
the tangible cash to spend and sometimes a get with
more challenging spending it today than what it used to
be with everyone using cards or use a debit card,
(04:02):
because there is a lot of research that says that
if you use cash as opposed to credit, you spend
about twenty percent.
Speaker 3 (04:09):
Less, right, that's interesting, that's that's a lot less. That
is like twenty percent.
Speaker 4 (04:15):
Yeah, yeah, well but you know you take that over
the course of a year and the more subsequently many years.
It's well because it's you think about it. When it's cash,
it's like there's a physicality to it, right, and it's
in your in your wallet, whereas you're tapping and these
days it literally is a tap, right.
Speaker 3 (04:31):
So yeah, it's increasingly frictionless.
Speaker 4 (04:34):
Yes, yes, that's right. And then you know that has
a has a cost at the end of the day.
So you know, taking out cash, I think is a
really great way to manage it if you can do that.
But it really it just comes down to, you know, planning. Yeah,
you know, it's that kind of it's that kind of
boring word. Really, at the end of the day, planning, budgeting,
(04:56):
being organized will just save yourself a lot of grief
in January. And then remembering that most people value time,
you know, gifts that don't need to recost money. Yeah,
experience and experience here, all that stuff is way more
valuable than a lot of the rubbish that we buy
for each other.
Speaker 3 (05:16):
Yeah, no, for sure. Hey, great advice.
Speaker 4 (05:17):
So those are my tips?
Speaker 3 (05:19):
Yeah, very good. It makes a lot of sense, Thank you, Lisa,
and good to get a nice and nearly too, just
because what we should do is we should just we
should just clip this up and then repeat it every
every three weeks leading up to Christmas, because it's especially
for those people who are freaking out four days before
Christmas and are trying to throw money at problems. I
think it's very very good advice. Lisa Dudson, our personal
(05:40):
finance expert, with us this Morning.
Speaker 1 (05:43):
For more from Saturday Morning with Jack Tame, listen live
to news talks that'd be from nine am Saturday, or
follow the podcast on iHeartRadio
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