Are you suffering from the holiday spending blues? Many of us get carried away during the holidays. Luckily, there are some helpful tips that can help you recover from your holiday spending.
Assess Your Financial Situation
Before you can start paying down your holiday debt, take time to thoroughly analyze your financial situation. Knowing exactly how much you owe will help motivate you to reduce your debt.
Calculate your expected income minus your necessary expenditures to create a payment plan that will help you get back on track. You can use this credit card interest calculator to show how much that Gucci handbag is really going to cost.
Put the Plastic on Ice
After the holidays have passed, you should stop using your credit cards. While it is never a good idea to cancel a credit card, you should keep them out of your wallet or purse. Some people literally freeze them in a block of ice so they aren’t tempted to use them.
Find a solution that works for you!
Trim Your Budget
A great way to pay off that holiday debt faster is by trimming down your budget. Take a hard look at your spending and identify things you can do without. For example, you might want to skip your daily visit to the local coffee shop, lower the data usage on your cellphone, or cancel your cable TV if it’s barely being used.
Pay Off High Interest Credit Cards First
If you have used high interest credit cards to pay for your holiday gifts, make sure to pay them off first. Keeping a balance on a credit card with high interest can really cost you. If need be, consider getting a loan from 24 Cash, a reputable online lender, to pay off the remaining balance. This will allow you eliminate your credit card debt and pay back the loan within 90 days.
Use Your Gift Cards and Extra Income
Many people receive gift cards during the holidays. If you received gift cards, now is a great time to use them. Gift cards can help you pay for your everyday needs, which will help free up some cash to be used to pay off your debt.
Holidays may also bring a year-end bonus from your employer. It`s tempting to think “I earned this and I want to spend it on something special for myself”. While that is true, consider using it to pay down your extra debt incurred for the holidays. Another financial bonus could come from your tax return, which could also be used to bring down your debt.
Sell What You Don’t Use
Many of us collect things we no longer use. Instead of letting these things create clutter in your home, why not sell them? You can have a yard sale or sell larger items on online marketplaces. Use the money you earn to pay off your debt.
These are a few tips that can help you pay down your holiday debt so that you can start saving for the future. Remember to take a hard look at your budget and eliminate unnecessary spending. Doing so will help pave the way to financial freedom.