You might find yourself dealing with a post-holiday hangover. Not from too much champagne or spiked eggnog. This headache comes from staring at your bank accounts and realizing how much money you spent on celebrating.
If you’re worried about the debts that you gained over the winter holidays, take a look at these tips to help you recover and get your finances back in order.
1. Make a Household Budget
If you don’t already have a household budget, this is a prime time to start one. A budget will give you a clearer idea about your total income and your monthly expenses. You will have two types of monthly expenses:
- Fixed expenses: Expenses that cost the same every month, like mortgage/rent, health insurance and car insurance payments.
- Variable expenses: Expenses that can vary every month, like clothing, groceries, toiletries and entertainment.
Adjust your variable expenses to get more savings. Simple changes like ordering less takeout, using coupons/discount codes and buying generic brands at the grocery store could make a big difference at the end of the month.
2. Make a Debt Repayment Plan
Once you have the budget, you can make your debt repayment plan. See what you can reasonably afford to set aside from your budget so that you can whittle down the debt that you made over the holidays. Be realistic. It’s better to stretch out your goal over months than to set yourself a short and unreasonable deadline. Think of this goal like a marathon — not a race. Slow and steady will get you straight to the finish line.
3. Don’t Forget about a Safety Net
Don’t drain the rest of your budget for the purpose of debt repayment. This strategy could leave you vulnerable. What if your car breaks down? What if your refrigerator stops working? What if your kitchen sink gets clogged? If you don’t leave yourself a sensible amount to cover these small but urgent problems, you could upend your personal finances even more.
Leave yourself some savings in case of a small emergency. If you still don’t have enough to cover these costs, you should consider applying for personal loans in Florida to use as another financial safety net to fall back on. With a line of credit loan, you could draw the amount that you need to handle an emergency expense and then pay down your line of credit. It’s a quick and convenient option.
4. See If You Can Increase Your Income
Sometimes you can speed up the repayment process if you can increase your funds. So, it could mean asking for a raise from your employer. It could mean taking on a side-hustle or second job. It could simply mean selling some of the things that you have lying around the house. Here are some gently used things that you can sell online for a profit:
- Clothes
- Shoes
- Bags
- Prescription glasses
- Jewelry
- Books
- Furniture
- Toys
- Sports equipment
- Electronics
- Tools
- Baby items
Then you create the win-win situation of getting rid of items that you don’t want and getting funds that you can put to excellent use. See how to sell your unwanted stuff online so that you’re guaranteed to get people bidding on your listing right after you post it.
The post-holiday hangover isn’t fun, but it doesn’t have to punish you for the rest of the year. You can follow these simple tips and recover your finances in no time.