How to Recover from a Holiday Overspending

Enjoying the holiday season is one thing, but repaying for it is a different story.  According to a recent GOBankingRates survey, 10% of the respondents said that they would probably fall into a debt or take out a loan to celebrate the holidays, and 27% revealed that they have fallen into holiday debt in the past.

If you’re one them, then it’s really unfortunate that you’ll be welcoming the New Year with a long list of debts to pay.  Don’t worry though, because you can still get your finances back on track, and you gotta do it fast.

In today’s article, let me share with you a few steps on how you can recover financially from all that holiday overspending.

Let’s begin.

Turn gifts and gift cards into cash.

If you received gifts you don’t really need or gift cards you don’t think you’ll ever use, then why not sell them online and get some value from them rather than just having them sitting at home or your drawer collecting dust.  Making money out of other people’s gifts may sound a little off but if you want to look for ways to pay for your holiday debt, doing this will really be a big help.

Commit to a No-Spend January.

This may sound like an impossible task but trust me, if you get through this, you’ll be able to save a lot of money to pay for that holiday overspending.  Don’t worry, when I say “No-Spend,” it means that your basic essentials are excluded… only your frivolous spending like random shopping, eating out, going to the movies, you know what I mean.  To help you succeed in this challenge, check out this article I wrote where I talk about 7 Ways to Survive a 30-Day Spending Hiatus.

Find an extra source of income.

It’s time to hustle your way to beefing up your savings and paying those holiday dues.  If you’re fortunate to do overtime anytime you want, go for it.  If not, look for a part time job that you can do during your weekend or a freelance work you can do online during your free time in order to get extra pay.  Consider what skills you have and turn it into an extra source of income.

Pay more than your credit card minimum.

If you don’t want your holiday debt be carried over to next year’s holiday spending or the year after, you need to have a goal to pay off more than the minimum every month. And, in case you haven’t already made a New Years’ Resolution, once you have climbed out from under that mound of credit card debt, stay that way.

Stop adding to your debt.

Paying for your holiday debt will definitely be a struggle, so make sure not add more to that.  Stop using your credit cards for any purchase, just use debit card or cash whenever you need to pay for something.

To sum it all up, recovering from a holiday debt is not easy, but is possible.  You just need to sacrifice a little and focus on your goal of paying all your holiday dues as soon as possible.  Good luck!