How do I Pay off Holiday Debt?

If you are like many of us, it may seem to happen to you just about every year. You tell yourself that this year you won’t go overboard at the holidays, you try to reign in your spending, but then somehow you get swept up in the season and suddenly your expenses have, well, snowballed. Come January, you’re buried under an avalanche of debt, and you can’t quite figure out how you got there, much less how you’ll dig your way out. This year, with inflation at the highest it’s been in four decades and prices soaring everywhere over the holidays, the average holiday debt load went up by 24 percent. That is the highest it’s been since 2015! What’s more, this is a bad time to be in debt, because interest rates are at record highs. If you are ready to pay off your holiday debts, do you know how to do it? We’ve got some tips to help you come up with a strategy.

• The first step in eliminating debt is to face it. Analyze what triggers you to overspend, so that you can learn how to make better financial decisions next time. Take a good look at your debt and list everything, including the interest rates, so that you can come up with a plan to reduce it. Examine your expenses with a critical eye, determining what you can cut to make more wiggle room in the budget.
• Get a handle on your budget. Once you’ve determined exactly how much you owe, create or update your budget to determine where your money is going. Track all of your monthly expenses, including holiday debt, and you will get a better idea of how much you can spend each month paying down the debt.
• See if your credit card company will work with you. Many consumers do not know this, but you can sometimes get a credit card company to reduce your interest rate simply by calling and asking. This may not seem like something that would work, but a recent Lending Tree study found that 70 percent of consumers who asked for a lower rate got one.
• Consider consolidation. You may be able to get a credit card with zero percent interest for balance transfers. This will allow you to move your debt to one card and pay it down before a higher interest rate kicks in. You might also consider a debt consolidation loan with a lower rate than your current debt, so that you can roll everything into one loan with a manageable monthly payment.
• Find a side hustle. Earning a little extra money each month is a good way to get rid of debt. Think about your skill set, and look for ways to use it to make some cash. Maybe you can offer tutoring, fix computers, or DJ a trivia night. There are plenty of things you can do to earn some extra money without taking up too much of your time.
• Pick a payoff approach. There are two different methods people typically use to pay down debt: the avalanche and the snowball. The snowball method involves paying off your lowest balances first, and this is a rewarding way to watch debts disappear quickly. The avalanche method, on the other hand, pays down the cards with the highest interest rates first. This takes longer, but it saves more money in the long run. The method you choose is up to you, but make sure you are paying at least the minimum amount on all of your cards, while applying any extra funds to the cards in your focus.

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