Christmas can mean a lovely, if expensive roster of drinks, lunches and dinners as friends reunite. Photograph: iStock

Did someone mention Christmas? If you think it’s too early for the ‘C’ word, think again.

We are now squarely in what’s called the “golden quarter” – the crunch period between October and December when retailers do everything in their power to get you to spend so that they can ‘win’ Christmas.

Tins of chocolates at the end of the supermarket aisle, sparkly tops in the shops, ads for sofas delivered for Christmas? It’s already started. It’s no wonder the State’s Money Advice and Budgeting Service (Mabs) issued its planning tips for Christmas a month ago.

Retailers have been gearing up for months to do battle for your money over the holiday shopping events of Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and Christmas.

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The outcome determines their annual financial success.

Donald McDonald, chief executive of Brown Thomas Arnotts, told The Irish Times last month that “40 per cent of our business is done in quarter four, with 25 per cent from mid November to the end of December”.

Manufacturing, marketing, staffing – it takes military preparation by retailers. Most film their Christmas ads in August, for God’s sake.

Consumers need to get planning, too, to avoid overspending.