Here’s an early holiday gift from financial experts: While the month-and-a-half ahead may be all spend, spend, spend, it is possible to majorly save this season — and the habits you make now will help you make smart decisions well into 2016. “We get so caught up in thinking of how to pay down debt, we don’t think of the other side of the equation: How do we not spend as much in the first place?” says Joe Duran, author of The Money Code: Improve Your Entire Financial Life Right Now. “When you get in the habit of recognizing saving hacks, not only will you have more to pay down any debts, but you’ll also know the triggers that cause you to spend.” Think of it in terms of this simple equation: Credit-card smarts + spending wisely = a bill that won’t make you gasp in fear.Because we know how easy it is to plunk down the plastic, we teamed up with bobble in an effort to reduce waste and overconsumption in all areas of life. So before you reach for your stack of cards again, consider these seven proven strategies to simultaneously save cash and slay any pesky balances you may be holding.