Debt Consolidation Can Assist You

Fort Lauderdale, Florida - Post holiday blues setting in? You now have to wait for the results of the "festival of spending" spree that you may have gone on.  This can be a frightening feeling. Once all your bills arrive, what should you do?  Simply set them out on the table, then you can sort and classify them in several different ways. You can sort your bills by the highest balances  OR you can sort by the highest interest rate and decide for yourself based on how much you can pay at a time, what is the best way for you to approach your credit card repayments. The highest interest first may be the best way to start unless the highest interest card is the lowest balance you have. Look over each bill statement and try to figure how much a month in charges it will accrue.

Stephen Marcus, Founder and President/CEO for A New Horizon Credit Counseling Services, Inc., a national credit counseling agency offered that, “One also can’t forget the stressful effects that are associated with carrying significant amounts of debt and the toll it takes an individual’s performance, emotional well being, one’s physical health and even one’s relationships.”

Once your credit card bills have been sorted you should list them in order of importance of who should get paid first. ALWAYS make the minimum payment on all the bills and apply extra money to the one that is first on the list and then work your way down on your list. You should try not to deviate from the financial plan that you have scheduled for yourself.  

You can also cut back on some things that you typically spend on until you pay off all your holiday debt.  Some things that you can cut back on are as follows:

-Dining out (or use coupons offered by local restaurants)

-Use more coupons for shopping for groceries

-Buying coffee every morning (bring it from home)

-Buying snacks and sodas (bring it from home and store at your desk)

-Don’t go out to movies and sports events

-Adjust your thermostat when you’re not home (use an automatic timer)

-Car pool if you can to save gas or take public transportation

As you sit and look back on your total spending for the holidays, maybe you should consider how much better you would feel without that extra financial burden.  Start creating a holiday budget plan for next year.  Each week put a little away so by the time the holiday season comes around again you will have your gift shopping money and hopefully will not have to use your credit cards again.

Mr. Marcus also stated, “Karen Peterson, a columnist for USA Today wrote, "To some people, money means power; to others, love. For some the topic is boorish, in bad taste. For others, it's more private than sex. Add family dynamics to the mix and for many you have the subject from hell" (Peterson 1992).