6 Tips To No Credit Card Hangover This Holiday

The holidays are upon us which means the inevitable increased spending on gifts, travel and festive activities. While it’s nearly impossible not to spend more during these next few weeks, the less credit card debt accumulated during this time, the better.

Hopefully these tips can help you avoid a holiday spending hangover in the new year: 

Create and stick to a budget. Assess your regular expenses and compare against your savings to calculate just how much you can comfortably spend. Then consider downloading a holiday shopping app to help you stay organized and on budget. Some apps even provide you with the latest deals and coupons from your favorite stores.

Have a shopping list. Once you have a budget, you’ll want to create a shopping list of everyone you need to buy a gift for. Allocate an amount to spend on each person and stick to it. Little extras can add up too!

Trim your list. If you find that your budget simply can’t cover the cost of everyone on your list, try eliminating unnecessary gift exchanges or gifts for people that aren’t family; such as teachers, employers and service providers.

Make extra money. If you can’t trim some people off your list, find ways to make some extra cash! Whether it’s working late hours in retail, consulting on the side, cashing out credit card points or selling personal items you no longer use, there are a lot of creative ways to find some extra spending money.

Shop with a purpose. After you have your list created, write down the types of gifts you’re looking for each person. This makes it much easier to pull the trigger when good sales pop up on certain items allowing you to get the best deals to stay within or even under budget.

Use credit wisely. Avoiding credit card debt doesn’t mean you have to avoid using credit cards. Sometimes credit is the safest way to shop when fraud is prevalent and allows you to get warranties and rack up points or cash back opportunities. Using credit cards alongside your budget will allow you to afford to pay the balance in full and avoid high interest rates. Just be sure to use the strategies above and pay it off quickly with available funds. 

We hope these tips can help you stay on budget and enjoy the holiday season without taking a hit during the first part of the year. We wish you a very happy holiday season! 

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