The holiday season is over, and it’s around the time that the spending regrets start to kick in.
When this happens, it’s always best to have a simple plan to get your finances back on track.
The first thing you will need to do is conduct a simple and relaxed assessment of your situation. In many cases, there is less to worry about than you thought. However, sometimes you’ve spent more than you planned and it’s your credit card statement that ends up telling you.
If you went into too much debt during the holidays and can’t afford to pay it back right away, the first thing to do is crunch the numbers. Exactly how much money do you need to come up with? How will the debt affect your daily spending, if at all?
If you need extra money, you will want to take advantage of return offers on any holiday purchases that you can. You will also want to redeem any rewards, such as credit card cash back rewards. You can also hold a sale or go online and sell new or old items that cannot be redeemed in store.
Once you’ve come up with the money you need, it’s time to start saving. Set a budget for yourself that will apply at least until you’ve gotten through the holiday season. One good way to do this is to cover your necessary expenses, like meals, with a strict, set budget while giving yourself an allowance for anything not entirely necessary. During this time, collect your paychecks and use any money you could gather up elsewhere to start tackling your credit card and other debts. It’s best to tackle them before they can grow and cause more trouble through interest and hits to your credit score.
