Christmas is a week away. Have you made your list, checked it twice? Got enough egg nog?
Prepared the house for visitors or made plans to get away? No, not to escape from those heading your way, but to be a house guest yourself!
Well, time is short; just seven shopping days left! But it's still possible to get it all done, especially if you heed the words of Christmas experts.
And with that, I resort to some shameless self-promotion.
I wrote a story for Bankrate last year that looked at what we could learn from folks who know this holiday best: The fictional characters we've all come to know, love and look forward to seeing each December.
I picked a dozen seasonal celebrants and explored the valuable money message that each embodied.
The story is a year old, but like the characters it features, the advice is timeless. The holiday experts include, Snoopy, Elvis, Bob Cratchit, Susan Walker, Irving Berlin, Scrooge, Buddy, the Grinch, Howard Langston, Kevin McCallister, Grandma and, of course, Santa.
Click here to find out just how the obvious and not so well-known Christmas characters can help us make Dec. 25, as well as the other 364 days, financially merry and bright.
Santa Claus image by Thomas Nast from Britannica Student Encyclopædia.
