Credit cards/ Credit: Flickr user Gordon

It’s not even October and already I heard the local news show anchors yammering away this morning about planning for holiday gift-buying. Given that it’s September 29, that has to be some kind of record. That said, it’s always a good time to think about credit cards, credit card debt, and how to create a budget.

Here are a few great resources:

On Tavis Smiley’s Road to Wealth blog, columnist Michelle Singletary answers questions about the drawbacks of paying down debt with other debt.

“When you use debt to pay off debt, you are not paying off the one debt. You are merely transferring it to another loan. You are shifting your debt load, not lifting it. It’s like moving the rock from one hand to the other.”

If you have personal finance questions, submit them to Michelle here.

For those just starting out in the real world, Rochester, NY’s WXXI has a show called BizKids, which teaches kids about business and finance skills. In a recent episode (Episode 205), the show profiles Lauren, a teen who racked up over $1000 in debt. The BizKids look at how credit affects your life – and that starting early with good credit is the best policy.

Youth Radio took a look earlier this spring on how changes to credit card laws could affect young people.

While credit cards may be a challenge for some to manage, are banks doing anything to give for consumers ways to protect against bad spending habits?

The NewsHour’s Jeffrey Brown talks to New York Times personal finance reporter Ron Lieber, who says that some banks are allowing debit card users to opt out of overdraft protection.

“And so that way people have the opportunity to say — to weigh all the fees involved and the potential benefits and to raise their hand and take some affirmative action and say, “Yes, I would like to be included in this coverage,” or, “No, I do not want to have it.””

New credit card rules that took affect this summer are also helping to protect customers from unexpected credit card policy changes.