For every person we know who tucks away a little cash each payday to finance Christmas, we can point to a dozen (at least!) who finance Christmas via credit card. Most folks fall somewhere between the diligent who pay the balance off right away and those who are still paying one Christmas’ debt when next one rolls around.

Ah, but this year’s traditional holiday sugar-and-tears commercials — adorable puppies romping under a Christmas tree, big-eyed children opening gifts, cookie-baking grandmas, Santa reading a sweetly misspelled Christmas note, a diamond engagement ring presented cutely, Mel Torme singing about his roasting chestnuts  — have a new nemesis. Credit card companies have clamped off a major source of all that heartstring-plucked spending.

For all our lip service to making Christmas “nonmaterialistic” each year, good intentions tend to cave under the weight of guilt, sentiment, obligation, clever marketing and a credit card with some air between current balance and credit limit.

Wouldn’t it be ironic if, this year, Big Credit will be the guys who actually make us follow through with the “less is more” philosophy we like to talk about?

Over the last few months, “good” borrowers as well as “bad” ones have gotten “Dear John” letters from their credit card companies: “Hi, there. You’ve been a great customer. You make your payments on time. Therefore, we are skyrocketing your interest rate and slashing your credit limit. We’re not telling you why. You have no recourse. Have a great holiday.”

This week’s business news tell us a couple of things:

Delinquency rates on credit cards fell during the third quarter; so did savings rates. Presumably people are directing more of their money to paying their cards. (North Dakota and South Dakota had the lowest delinquency rates in the country — 0.66 percent and 0.70 percent respectively. Nevada was the highest with 1.98 percent.)

Retailers, however, are biting their nails again this year. If people really are soberly spending less, particularly with plastic, it doesn’t bode well for holiday buying, which makes up a huge chunk of many retailers’ yearly incomes. Marketers will tell you that people will spend more when they’re holding a card than with cash.

Without the usual orgy of Christmas spending put on plastic, retailers can throw Andy Williams and his silver bells at us in vain with commercials showing poignant homecomings and Norman Rockwellian family gatherings.

Human nature being what it is, we often aspire to do the right thing, but in reality, we often do it only when we have no other choice.

So to all you credit card companies out there this holiday season — thanks for helping us become better people against our will. It’s probably not what you had in mind, but that’s the Law of Unintended Consequences.

And when the economic cycle turns and that blizzard of credit card offers again clogs our wastebaskets and paper shredders, let us fervently hope we have long memories, new habits and will reply to your offers as follows: “Dear John ...”

(Reach reporter Karen Herzog at 250-8267 or karen.herzog@bismarcktribune.com)