How to Eliminate Holiday Debt

Are you one of many Aussies who may have spent a bit to much over the holiday season? Gifts, food, travel, parties and so on can really wreak havoc on your finances.
There always seems to be a financial holiday hangover every January and the elimination of this debt gets thrown into the list of New Years resolutions.

Below are some ideas on how to get out of this debt and prevent it from happening in the future.

Tactics for getting out of holiday debt
1. The obvious and easy one is to sell unwanted gifts online and direct these funds towards the debt.
2. Another tactic for those that qualify is to utilise zero interest balance transfers for credit cards or take out a low interest personal loan to consolidate multiple debts if you have them.
3. This might not be popular but works – put in some overtime at the office to earn a few extra dollars or possibly take on some part-time weekend work.
4. Revisit the budget and cut back on areas that you can, applying these savings toward the debt. This can be a temporary or permanent tactic.
5. Pull back on entertainment for a couple of weeks and use this cash to pay down the debt – this is similar to the budget cut backs.
6. A combination of the above can really eliminate your debt quickly.

 
Ideas to prevent holiday debt in the future
1. Setup a holiday savings account in which you put a couple of dollars aside each paycheck or month. Simply think about how much you spend during the holidays, take that number and divide it by 12 > that’s how much you should set aside each month.
2. Purchase gifts throughout the year during blow out sales – this can save you hundreds if not thousands (depending on the size of your family :-))
3. Set limits to gift prices
4. If your creative, possibly create gifts or substitute expensive gifts with cards and food/cookie platters
5. Budget, plan and get creative are the main things to control holiday spending

There are so many things you can do to stay on top of your finances during the holiday season and eliminate debt after the fact. Christmas is a great time of the year which can be wonderful for some and stressful for others. If you want to be one of the ones who enjoys pre and post Christmas, makes sure to utilise some of these tips. Check out other ideas on how to get cash to pay down debt without taking on a loan. If however you need a cash injection to help control your finances, visit our responsible borrowing section.