If you pay with plastic for holiday gifts you may end up watching your debt pile up along with those presents, but there are ways to avoid that holiday hassle. Credit cards seem like a quick easy way to pay for gifts. You don't have to carry cash and with a swipe of the card, your gift is in the bag and ready to go, but add holiday spending to your everyday payments and you could end up with more than you bargained for.

A holiday poll shows half of Americans say they worry about their overall level of debt like car payments, house payments, and credit cards. Most holiday shoppers who use plastic for purchases say they can control their spending, but one in six say they don't trust themselves with a card. The poll also shows young adults who make less than $25,000 a year are most likely to doubt their own ability to manage credit cards. So, Channel 6 spoke to a financial analyst to find the best way for you to avoid holiday credit headaches.

Glenn Campbell of Parker Hunter Incorporated, The first thing they need to do is make sure at least they make the minimum payment, so they don't get in a rears and ruin their credit rating. Then what they have to do is stop buying things and start paying off the debt and get it down because the interest rate on the balance is horrendous.

Campbell also suggests putting your money into a Christmas Club. That's where you have your bank put aside a certain amount of your money each month, you earn interest on it, and then around the holidays, you use that money to buy your gifts.

There are also some tips to follow to protect your credit around the holidays. Open your credit card statements as soon as you get them and look for any purchases you didn't make. If you find any, immediately report them to your credit card company. Compare receipts with billing statements to confirm amounts spent. Keep a record of your credit cards customer service phone numbers so if any are lost or stolen, you know immediately who to call. Stay alert for possible credit card scams over the Internet and remember, credit card companies do not request personal information by e-mail.