We are officially in the holiday shopping season. Every year around this time, many of us are trying to grab the best deals possible to give gifts to our loved ones, friends, co-workers, and others. While Black Friday and Cyber Monday have already come and gone, there are other deals waiting out there as retailers are in a race to finish out the year strong.

I’m all for healthy capitalism, but I’m also all for healthy personal finance habits. How about you? Are you finishing out the year strong, financially speaking?

If not, then this message is for you. I’m not one for New Year’s resolutions. With that being said, I am one for constant and focused improvement throughout the year. I do understand that the close of a given year making way for a new one provides us with the feeling of a fresh slate and a perceived opportunity to get started again towards our goals.

If you have had thoughts along the lines of improving your financial situation heading into this new year, then I want you to get ready to hit the ground running early. Don’t wait until January 1st. It’s time to get started right now, even if you are in the middle of buying gifts, attending holiday parties, or doing anything else related to the hustle and bustle of the holiday season.

It may seem like a good idea to hold off and not think about finances right now. Maybe you want to take your foot off of the gas in the name of the Christmas holiday season. You feel this overwhelming urge to coast through the end of the year so that you can start over again after the new year begins.

This would not be the action of someone who is serious about getting out of debt. Did you know that every day that you are in debt is another day where you don’t get to experience freedom?

Let me repeat that. Every day that you are in debt is another day where you don’t get to experience freedom.

I want you to take a moment to imagine what that freedom is like that you are missing right now. What if you were able to keep most of your paycheck? What if you weren’t handing your hard-earned money over to Chase, Bank of America, Citibank, and other entities that are charging you hundreds of dollars in interest charges month after month?

What if you didn’t have a car payment and could drive a paid-for vehicle? Better yet, what if you were living in a home with no mortgage? What if you were surrounded by four walls that were absolutely and entirely owned by you?

For some of us, that might feel like a distant dream. For others, it may be something that you’re looking forward to just around the corner. In any case, the bottom line is that you don’t want to extend the time that you need to wait for this reality to come to fruition by coasting for the rest of the year.

Finish the year strong, just like most of the retailers are doing as they are vying for a spot on your credit card statement or a transaction line on your next bank statement.

The difference between you finishing the year strong and the retailers finishing their year strong is that your finish to the year is going to include a larger chunk of debt paid off so that when it’s time for that ball to drop to ring in the new year, you already have a nice, healthy head start.