Today – Ways to Financially Recover from the Christmas Period
Top 5 Ways to Financially Recover from the Christmas Period
The Christmas season has come and gone…and so has your money! If you have a growing family, chances are that you are cringing at the thought of all those expenses that expect to be paid at the end of January. Often, for families, Christmas means renewed debt and the first few months of the year are spent trying to stretch ends to make them meet. With focus on this seemingly universal struggle, let’s take a look at a few ways that you can manage your finances to ensure the festive season pinch doesn’t last too long.
How to Overcome the Festive Season (Wallet) Pinch
According to an article published by the Guardian, credit card debt has shown a decline in the UK for the first time since 2013. This is a vast change from 2018 when 7.9 million Britons indicated that they would most probably fall behind with their finances in January after over-spending over Christmas. You can read the Independent’s article on this here. The change seen this past Christmas in credit card debt indicates that people are doing something right…but it’s not a statistic that includes everyone. If you are reading this, you are probably on the losing side of Christmas debt – and that’s okay, because there are things that you can do to alleviate the pressure on you and your bank balance.
Now that January has rolled around, suddenly all those trinkets and gag gifts you bought for family and friends seem like a waste of money, don’t they? Don’t despair. There are things that a family can do to ensure that the budget blues don’t stick around. And here they are:
-
Bust bad credit with a long term loan.
Yup, taking out long term loans for bad credit could give you the financial relief you are looking for, just so you can get back on your feet without the fear of being blacklisted. When you apply for a bad credit loan at the right place, you should receive a pay-out in as little as just 24 hours and what’s more, is that if you are already suffering a poor credit record, you only need to consider a slightly higher interest rate. To apply for such a loan, you must be 18 years old or older, have a bank account in your name, be living and working in the UK for more than 3 years, and of course, be able to prove that you can afford the monthly repayments. Phew! That’s a life saver, isn’t it?
-
Commit to a January of no spending.
People do dry January or Veganuary…why don’t you do no-spend January? As a family, dedicate to spending more time at home as a family. Avoid the dinners at restaurants, cut right back on spending on luxuries and dig your heels in for a meagre January. It might seem like an imposition on your lifestyle, but by the time February rolls around, you will be grateful for it. Only buy necessities this January and spend time at home with the family – easy!
-
Declutter your home.
Gather the family, sit down and have “the chat”. The festive season has left everyone in the family reeling from debt…but now there is opportunity to use the situation to start the year off fresh and clutter free. Enlist everyone to go through their private areas in the home (and the main living areas too), to create a list of things that can go to charity shops, and be sold on the likes of eBay, Gumtree, or Craigslist. You will be surprised at how much extra money you can make just by selling the extra bits and pieces you no longer need and that are just cluttering the home.
-
Do “The Great Return”.
Christmas is a time of hit-and-miss when it comes to gifts. Chances are that you and all of your family members received some gifts from other relatives and friends that are ill-suited or unwanted. You probably also spent money on your credit and debit cards on things like decorations, trinkets, appliances – some of which were not opened and now have no purposes. Make a point of returning everything that you have no use for or don’t want. Of course, if there’s no way to return an item, you can try to sell it. Be methodical and brutal. Don’t just keep things “because”. When you return things that you bought on your credit card, it actually pushes your balance down which can help you to avoid high repayments in January and February.
-
First pay debts with the highest interest rate attached.
If you have a credit card that has a high interest rate attached, focus on paying that card off first. This is called snowballing. Keep paying the minimum amount due on your other balances but focus on trying to drive as much extra money as possible into your highest interest rated debt. This will help you to pay off debt quicker and get rid of interest quicker too.
Last Word
With the New Year already off at a gallop, there’s no time to rest on your laurels when it comes to financial management. Take initiative and control of your finances once more – the first step to doing so, is trying the 5 pointers above. Good luck – and all the best for 2020!
Top 5 Ways to Financially Recover from the Christmas Period is a feature post – you might also like my post on easy ways to save money in 2020
