Transcript:
With holiday music, festive decorations, and enticing ads everywhere, it’s easy to get swept up in the excitement of the season and buy more food and gifts than you need. And online shopping provides even more temptation.
Roster: “It’s so easy – just a click of the button, and here it comes.”
But Catherine Roster of the University of New Mexico Anderson School of Management warns that overbuying during the holidays can lead to credit card debt.
And it harms the climate because making and shipping unused goods wastes resources and emits carbon pollution.
So Roster suggests making a budget and sticking to it. And if you find yourself adding too many items to an online shopping cart, stop and walk away.
Roster: “Let them sit for 24 hours, and then think about whether that was really the right thing and what you really want to do.”
She says friends and family may appreciate sharing an experience with you or receiving something handmade more than a store-bought gift.
Roster: “I think if you take time to think about the things in your life and the people in your life that are most important to you, that there’s a lot better ways to honor those relationships and to make people feel appreciated and feel the real spirit of the holiday.”
Reporting credit: ChavoBart Digital Media
