How to overcome debt from holiday overspending

If you believe you spent more than you should during the holidays, there are some possible solutions.

07:50 29 January 2014

More and more people are using credit cards for their unnecessary expenditures such as shopping for holiday gifts. It can be disheartening once the holiday season has passed, to receive the credit card bills and realise that you may have overspent. If this is the case for you, you are definitely not alone.

If you are struggling with managing after your holiday spending here are a few helpful tips: 

 

• Check your various credit cards to find out which ones have the lowest fees and interest rates. If you are able to use a balance transfer from a higher-interest card and get a better deal with another credit card definitely take advantage of that option. Check to see if there will be penalty fees for switching card companies, or balance transfer fees.

 

• Personal loans at the bank may allow you to consolidate all your credit card debt and offer you a much more manageable monthly payment, and perhaps even a better interest rate as well. If that is the case you will be much better off financially and will be able to get out from under that debt a lot faster.

 

• If you are able to manage your debt load, but do not want to be paying on it for years to come, pay as much extra on at least one of the credit cards in order to get that debt paid off as quickly as possible. You can then move to the next credit card and pay it off using the same process with more of the money you are saving from the previous credit card you paid off. If you continue with this process you will be able to pay off a significant portion, if not all, of your debt. Friends and family might pay off debt and let you repay them instead.