It’s incredibly easy to go overboard on holiday spending. From buying lots of fun gifts for everyone on your list to going out to nice holiday dinners and celebrating New Year’s Eve in style, the non-stop spending of the holiday season can run your bank account dry. When this happens, it’s very easy to get behind on your monthly bills and have less money to spend on living expenses in the new year. In fact, it can take months or longer to recover from excessive holiday spending — especially when you use high-interest credit cards to help fund your spending.
The new year is the perfect time to buckle down on your budget so that you can recover from going overboard during the holidays. Today, your friends at Cash 4 You have some helpful tips to help you recover from overspending, while also planning ahead so you don’t get into the same predicament next holiday. Check it out!
Assess Your Accounts
The best place to start in your overspending recovery is to assess the damage right away. Look at your bank account, credit cards, and store credit cards to determine how much you spent during the holidays. This list may include:
- Gifts you bought
- Dining out
- Groceries for holiday meals
- Work and social events
- Holiday entertainment splurges
- Vacations and holidays
The last thing you want to do is wait for your bank and credit card statements to arrive, which can throw you into a tailspin of post-holiday stress and anxiety. Check your statements now, making note of the amounts you spent and the amounts you owe. Knowing what you spent can help you prepare for the bills that will be coming due, which can help you budget for them accordingly.
Create a Repayment Strategy
Now that you know what you’ve spent, you can create a solid repayment strategy to eliminate holiday debt. Here are some things to consider for your repayment strategy:
- Your debt-versus-income ratio
- Your gross income and your payday schedule
- How many open and active credit cards you have
- The amount you have in your savings account
- The interest rates on your credit cards
- Your monthly expenses
- Your lifestyle and spending habits
- You goal for when you want to have holiday debts paid down or eliminated
- Note any upcoming purchases you have scheduled
The important thing to keep in mind is that you want to create a strategy that can work for you. Be realistic and work within your budget, using all of your financial means to your advantage. If it is going to take a few months to recover, that is alright as long as it will help you in the end.
Change Your Spending Habits
Making purchases has never been easier now that you can shop on smartphones without ever having to leave your home. While it is super convenient, after one or two months of shopping on your phone and hitting “Purchase Your Order” without giving it much thought, your brain may still be ready to shop, shop, shop even after the holidays. One way to recover from overspending during the holidays is to change your spending habits right away. Resist the temptation to shop as you were in the days leading up to Christmas, avoid using credit cards to fund purchases, and try to save at least a quarter of the money you spend. Putting a stop to bad spending habits will at least reduce the rate at which your balances due grow.
Start Planning for the Holidays Now
There’s never a bad time to start planning for the holidays. In fact, the sooner, the better. Buy a gift each month that is within your budget to prevent overspending in the weeks before the holidays. Shop after-holiday bargains to get deals on the things you know you’ll need next season. Better yet, use your financial assessment of what you spent this last holiday season to help you start saving money specifically for holiday spending. That way, when the holidays come around you won’t have to dip into your budget, and you won’t have to overspend all at once.
Create a Post-Holiday Emergency Fund
Prevent overspending — and the after-effects of going overboard — by building a holiday emergency fund for yourself. Simply set a small amount of money each month that you can use as a backup after the holidays in case you overspend. Hey, at the very least, if you don’t need those emergency funds after the holidays, you’ll have a nice amount built up for your savings account that you can continue building on.
Get Instantly Approved for a Payday Loan
One way to get back on track is to apply for a payday loan of up to $1,500 to help you cover bills and living expenses after the holidays. While it may seem counterproductive to take out an instant cash loan, it’s actually a great way to get the money you need while also building your credit in the process. What’s more, people often turn to high-interest credit cards to help them out for the months following the holidays, which only racks up more fees from interest.
At Cash 4 You, we have designed our payday loans to be simple and sensible in terms of getting instantly approved and repaying your loan. Simply apply for your cash money loan online, or stop by one of our 106 stores located across Ontario. We offer relaxed credit requirements and work with people of all credit standings, which makes it easy to get the money you need when you need it most. Then, you can pay back your loan with your next paycheck. It really is that fast and easy!
Recover from Holiday Spending Fast
Getting your finances and spending habits back on track after the holidays is easier than you might think — and Cash 4 You is here to help! Follow these handy tips, and if you need some extra cash to get you through, you can get instantly approved for a payday loan in amounts of up to $1,500 today, and be on your way to recovering from holiday spending tomorrow. Connect with Cash 4 You, your Top Rated National® payday loans retailer in Ontario!
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