Yes, the pools are still open, and it's still so hot and steamy outside that your glasses fog over every time you step out of the office for a bite to eat.<br /><br />In the personal finance world, though, it's high time to plan for the holidays.<br /><br />We all love the holidays, even if we could do without the silly songs, blatant consumerism and family friction. No one can deny that all those dinners and parties and gift exchanges ride up on the pricey side.<br /><br />For the past couple of years, we Americans have been spending about $450 billion with the retail industry during our winter holiday season, according to the National Retail Federation. That's down from what we were spending when the Joneses were still current on their mortgage, but it's still enough money to warrant a bit of forethought before tossing it into the open registers at the shopping malls.<br /><br />Read the rest of this story in <a href="http://www.urbantulsa.com/gyrobase/Content?oid=oid%3A27746">this week's edition of Urban Tulsa Weekly</a>.