The seasonal online spending orgy begins — tips for minimizing January debt hangover

Happy young woman making online purchases near Christmas treeBelow is a link to my latest Financial Post blog, which tackles the financial implications of the annual spending orgy that starts with Black Friday tomorrow, builds steam with Cyber Monday, and on to Christmas itself. (Not to mention Boxing Day!)

It’s titled Why it makes sense to use your TFSA to get out of debt this Christmas. Note there is also an accompanying video.

BMO Black Friday/Cyber Monday report

While I didn’t have a chance to include it in the FP blog, BMO has released its annual Black Friday and Cyber Monday Report and finds Canadians plan to spend an average of $446 over both days: $300 on average on Black Friday and $229 on Cyber Monday.

As was the case last year, Millennials are more likely to shop those days (69% of them) and will spend an average of $437 on either day, which is fully a third of the $1,348 they plan to spend over the entire Holiday season.

However, while 43% of Millennials took on an average debt of $722 in the 2014 holiday season, BMO Financial Group says only 17% of them plan to go into debt this time around.

Among Baby Boomers, 54% plan to shop on those two days, spending an average of $474 either day.

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