Dealing With Debt: Holiday Season Debt
The holiday season brings with it more than just presents and cheer. For many of us, it also means increased debt. Dealing with debt is what prompts many to make New Year’s Resolutions of getting their personal finances in order. CNN Money has some great tips on dealing with holiday season debt. And one of the tips for dealing with debt happens to be to stop spending money your credit cards:
The next step may seem obvious, but a lot of people don’t take it, and that’s to stop charging on your credit cards. If you don’t do that, Reed said, “the bills will only get larger and the envelopes heavier and the stress greater.”
One of the problems we have is that it is so easy to just put purchases on a credit card. It’s convenient, easy and we don’t actually “see” the money go. And if you can’t pay the balance off, it’s easy to just pay the minimum and move on with the month. And this is what gets many in their personal finances. Paying only the minimum ensures that you are in debt for a looooooong time.
Some of the things you can do to help when dealing with credit card debt includes:
- Trying to negotiate a lower credit card interest rate.
- Put extra money toward one credit card at a time. Concentrate on paying off one (keep paying all minimums though) and then move on to the next.
- Avoid putting more money on your credit cards.
- Create a holiday fund. Save money all year to use on gifts during the holiday season.
You can get out from under that holiday season debt. But it means that you truly have to start the new year off right.
Tags: holiday season debt, dealing with debt, home mortgage loan, mortgage blog,
get out of debt, credit card interest rate
