With the holiday season fast approaching and inflation rates remaining high, spending can get out of control quickly.

Large family meals, decorations, and gifts are common costs throughout the months of November and December. These things can be expensive and spending can snowball out of hand if you aren’t careful. There are some things you can do to reduce overspending while still enjoying those beloved holiday traditions.

Establishing and following a budget is essential to achieving personal financial goals. Before you begin buying gifts, make a list of all your essential holiday-related expenses. Be very specific and include extra expenses like stamps and wrapping paper. These small things might seem insignificant but can quickly add up. Decide how much money you are willing to spend on travel. Setting a budget in advance will help you figure out how much money you can devote to each type of expense.

Use credit cards only if you can manage the extra debt. It’s easy to overspend when physical cash is not leaving your wallet. Don’t get carried away and max out your available credit. Take note of all current debt before you go shopping. Set a hard limit on the amount of credit you will use throughout the season and stick to it. Spending more than you can realistically pay back is a dangerous financial decision that can leave you paying extra for months to follow.

Set aside small, affordable amounts now to prepare for extra holiday spending. Not only is this a good hack to pad your savings for this time of year, but it is also a great way to build a healthy, lifelong savings habit. Setting aside as few as $5 per day can accumulate to $1,820 a year. That amount could cover your holiday expenses next year or help pay off current debts! Travel is another item that can be costly. If you have to travel in the upcoming months, plan in advance. Airlines, train stations, hotels, and others in the travel industry tend to charge higher rates this time of year due to higher demand.

Look for alternative ways to share the seasonal cheer with others. Nothing says “I love you” quite like a homemade gift. If you aren’t necessarily crafty, try making your own gift cards or sharing your favorite baked goods. The spirit of giving is not dependent on the ability to spend lots on the newest gadget. Giving the gift of homemade items or your time can be much more meaningful than something purchased at a store.

Although it can be hard not to get sucked into the holiday spending cycle, a bit of preparation will help you be financially savvy. If one of your New Year’s resolutions is to get a handle on your finances, starting now will propel you into your new goal and set you up for future success. For more information, contact Cassidy Lutz at [email protected] or by calling 620-625-8620.

This time of year, we will spend more time shopping and using our bank account or credit cards.  It’s a great time for a reminder on tips to prevent scams.

Fraud is a big business. A 2022 U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) report showed fraud increased by more than 30% when Americans reported losing nearly $8.8 billion to fraud. The most common schemes were impostor scams, followed by online shopping scams and those that involved prizes.

No one is immune to scams.  If it does happen, be sure to report it, give yourself grace, and look for guidance.  Here are some tips to remember:

• Be Skeptical – Question everything from phone calls, email offers and links on your social media. Ensure your apps, devices, password managers and antivirus software come from reputable sources and are up to date.

• Guard your personal information – Don’t give out your bank account numbers, passwords, pins, and especially your social security number and birthdate. Review the privacy settings for your social media accounts.

• Take your time – Don’t rush into making a purchase and never feel bad double checking to make sure you aren’t being targeted for a scam. Resist the pressure to act quickly.

• Use your credit card whenever possible – a credit card gives you better fraud protection than a debit card.  According to the FTC, if someone makes a fraudulent charge on your credit card, the most you’ll be liable for is $50.

• Never send money – via gift card or wire transfer to someone you’ve never met face to face.

·      Regularly check your bank accounts for fraud – Look through your accounts transactions every two weeks to make sure everything there is valid and legitimate.

• Set up your phone to decline calls from people you don’t know – To reduce your chances of answering phone calls from scammers, go into your phone settings and select the option to send unknown callers to voicemail. Anyone that is not in your contacts that calls will go directly to voicemail

For more information, contact Tara Solomon-Smith, [email protected], or call 620-244-3826.

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Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service

K-State Research and Extension is an equal opportunity provider and employer. Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work, acts of May 8 and June 30, 1914, in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Director of K-State Research and Extension, Kansas State University, County Extension Councils, Extension Districts.

In 2023, on-farm trials were conducted in three counties Southeast Kansas counties under partnership between local producers and their respective Extension districts. The goal of these trials was to observe sunn hemp’s potential as a summer annual forage to supplement tall fescue pastures during the “summer slump”. If producers are able to provide high quality forage during the summer slump, less feed supplementation could be used and other tall fescue paddocks could be allowed longer rest periods.

Sunn hemp (Crotalaria juncea L.) is an annual, warm season legume native to India. It has traditionally been used as a fiber crop, but it has gained popularity in the United States as a cover crop. Recent studies from Missouri University have shown sunn hemp to be a productive annual forage option that is high in protein and carries negligible bloat risk.

Sunn hemp was drilled into long time tall fescue pastures at rates of 30 lbs/acre. After planting, roughly 90% emergence was observed. By July, the stand had decreased to roughly 50% due to drought.

Plots were harvested the first week of August. Crude protein was found to be 2-5% higher in samples containing sunn hemp. This increase in crude protein was enough to meet a cow’s needs without supplementation. Total digestible nutrients (TDN) also showed a 2-3% increase in samples containing sunn hemp.

Water was a limiting factor throughout these trials, but sunn hemp shows potential to be a high-quality alternative forage to interseed into tall fescue pastures. Sunn hemp was broadcast into others areas, but the sunn hemp did not emerge, therefore, drilling sunn hemp is recommended. A full study report will be coming out soon.