Well, hello everyone. I'm James Dobson and you're listening to Family Talk, a listener-supported ministry.

In fact, thank you so much for being part of that support for James Dobson Family Institute. Welcome to Family Talk with your host psychologist and author Dr. James Dobson.

I'm Roger Marsh and you know Doctor, I'm already starting to see Christmas decorations in the stores and seeing Christmas commercials on TV. I guess it's official the biggest

shopping season of the year is here. Roger have you noticed that the official

Christmas shopping season used to start after Thanksgiving.

That's the way it was when I was a kid. That was kind of the kickoff for the

Christmas season. Now it seems to get into full swing earlier and earlier every year and it's a time

when millions of people pile up hundreds or even thousands of dollars in debt for gifts and travel, parties and other events

this time of the year.

There's a thousand things we can spend money on, and it seems to mostly happen in November and December.

Then in January, we're faced with a mountain of debt that can lead to all kind of problems in the home.

A recent study showed that finances are the leading cause of stress in

marital relationships, and consequently it is also a leading cause of divorce.

Another study reported last year that the American Psychological Association showed that about three quarters of all Americans

experience financial stress at least some of the time. So it comes down to this

too many of us are spending too freely.

We're overspending and we find ourselves stressed out by it.

Well, that is very, very true.

And Dr Dobson, our guest today here on the Family Talk

program does know something about that kind of stress. Mary Hunt started

overspending when she was in college and she eventually ended up with thousands of dollars of consumer debt and

this was before the days of online shopping where you can spend huge amounts of money without

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