With Christmas just 29 days away, we wanted to give you a gentle reminder that there are a couple of things that you may have forgotten about arranging ready for the holidays.

Not only are you going to need to make sure you can pay for your festive purchases, you also need to make sure they are covered before you give them out and that you receive assistance in getting them to the intended recipients if your car decides to break down en route.

For the first part of this Christmas finances special, we are going to look at credit cards, including how to use them sensibly during the festive season and deadlines to apply for the best offers.

Credit card application deadlines

There are some attractive deals on the market if you are hoping to use a credit card to make purchases for Christmas. However, if you want to make the most of these offers you’ll need to start comparing and applying soon because time is running out as deadlines approach fast.

Most applications can take upwards of 10 days to process, especially on credit cards that don’t offer an instant decision. Plus, some application processes will require you to read, sign and return a credit agreement. You should also plan in plenty of time to allow for the card to arrive in the post followed by your PIN a few days later.

Below are the deadlines for our best Christmas credit cards. If you complete your application by the deadline below your card should arrive in time for you to start using it from Friday 18th December.

All dates are guidelines only, are based on a standard ‘smooth’ online application and are correct at time of publication. The dates may change if your application is referred for further consideration (i.e. is not a ‘smooth’ transaction); if there are postal delays or if there is an unusually high spike in demand.

Tips for using your credit card sensibly this Christmas

• If you plan to use your credit card primarily for Christmas purchases think about what type of purchases you are going to use it for and set yourself a strict limit on how much you are going to spend.
• If you apply for a reward credit card this limit should be set at what you can afford to pay back when the bill arrives or the rewards you earn will be cancelled out by any interest you pay if you choose to pay later (unless it has a short introductory purchase offer as well).
• If you choose to get a 0% purchase credit card your limit should be capped at what you will be able to pay back by the time the 0% offer runs out so you don’t have to pay any interest or get into debt. This is a good way to spread the cost of your Christmas spending sensibly.
• Using a credit card for purchases between £100 and £30,000 will also give you the added protection of Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act. This will help to prevent you losing your money on the goods and services you buy in the event of a company not delivering what it promised.