Now that the holidays are over

If you are like millions of Americans, now that the holidays are over, the last crumbs of pie have been eaten, the pressies all played with, the last ornament put away, and life is slowly coming back to normal, you are wondering......

HOW WILL I PAY FOR ALL THIS???

OK now take a deep breath. :-) The best way to handle this is to not get into this situation to begin with, but that's usually easier said than done. More on that later. For now, let's first assess the damage!

I know you get the credit cards in the mail sometime in Jan anyway, but I like to be prepared for the hit before it comes. So I collect all of my credit cards, and go online for each to check what the Dec bill will be for each. You can call their toll free number too. I write down the total amount, the minimum payment and the interest percentage that we'll will pay for each card. Then check your bank balance to see how much you can start paying off. From now on, the math is simple. Add up all the minimum payments, and make sure you have enough to cover those first. After that, see how much you have left. Use that money to start paying down the credit card with the highest interest rate. This way, even if you have to pay interest, at least you are paying on the cards with the lower interest rates.

I like to plan so that all these cards are paid off by, say April or May. Oh and not add anything else on them while I am paying them off. If I am all caught up by May, I put aside the same amount of money that I was sending for credit card payment, into a holiday fund. That way, I can save money for 6 months, before next Nov, when the holiday sales will be on again, and I can spend all of that for the holidays for next year! AND hopefully avoid overusing credit cards next year ;-).


As creative people we also have the obvious solution - make it yourself! DIY is a great idea for making holiday presents. The issue is usually time, not skill. By the time the holidays draw close, there are so many other things to do that there is just not enough time to make holiday presents. So one of the changes in 2012 will be to make holiday presents throughout the year, so that time is no longer an issue!


What do you do? What's your plan for paying off your holiday expenses or to save for the next holiday season?