Feliz navidad? More like feliz navi-DEBT.

The holiday season is the time of year when people spend the most, mainly on gifts for their loved ones. It’s easy to throw caution to the wind and just blow your budget regardless of the consequences. And the rise of mobile shopping has only made it easier to drop hundreds, perhaps thousands of dollars on shiny new objects. In fact, industry experts expect the average American to spend $920 per person on holiday gifts in 2019 — $885 more than 2018 — reaching a total of more than $1 trillion in holiday spending.

Planning on braving the crowds this Black Friday? Here's what you should know in order to land the best deals, safely.

Scammers are our number one adversary.

We work to help our community reach their financial goals, scammers work hard to bilk unsuspecting people out of their hard-earned money.

We're committed to your safety, scammers are committed to stealing your information and use it for bad stuff.

Scams are a huge threat — not just to the U.S., but the world. Last year, a reported $1.48 billion was lost to fraud. Not million, billion. With the rise of the internet, scammers can now cast a wider net to snag their victims, making falling for a scam as easy as missing your turn.

If you find that you’re struggling financially in spite of your hard work, research shows that the greatest way to get a raise ⁠is to look for a job elsewhere.

If you’ve recently been rejected from a credit application of any kind, you may be looking at a poor credit score for any number of reasons. Maybe you've been late with your credit card payments, have an outstanding judgment against you or fell victim to identity theft.