How to Handle Holiday Debt in the New Year

You gave it your best effort, but when the holiday season finally came to an end you realized one thing to be true: you took on debt.

This can come in many forms, including but not limited to credit card debt and store credit card debt.

As the calendar turns to the new year, you’ll find that this debt isn’t going away on its own. Just because the holidays are over doesn’t mean that your debt will disappear.

If you find yourself in this position, here are three tips that can improve your situation:

1. Make a List of Your Debts

Most importantly, you must understand each type of debt that you’re carrying. In addition to the type, make sure you assign the appropriate amount of debt to each one.

With this information in front of you, you’ll better understand what you’re faced with in the months to come.

You may find that you compiled more holiday debt than you thought. You may also find that it’s not nearly as bad as you previously believed.

2. Create a Plan

It’s one thing to understand your debts related to holiday spending. It’s another thing entirely to get rid of this once and for all.

Can you pay it all off at once? Will you need to make smaller payments as the year moves forward? Your answer doesn’t matter as much as making sure that you have a concrete plan in place.

3. Don’t Do it Again

Although the next big holiday season is 11 months off, there’s no better time than now to prepare for the future.

What can you do today to ensure that you don’t rack up more holiday debt in the future? Maybe you can start your shopping earlier this year. Or maybe you can set a budget and take the necessary steps toward sticking with it.

When you look back at your holiday spending what do you see? Did you take on debt or were you able to avoid this?