The room is spinning, your head hurts, and you feel faint at the sight of your bank account a few days after New Years. The Monday right after New Year ’s Day has been deemed “Blue Monday”, really check it out on Wikipedia J It’s tagged as the most depressing day of the year after the holiday season. WOWZA! The struggle is really real for many individuals. We can believe it, and some may even feel symptoms the entire month, as soon as those holiday spending bills start rolling in. Well Elitians, we have a few suggestions that just might relieve your wallet hangover from this holiday season.
January May Be Your Lifesaver
A clean slate is right in front of you and it’s time to budget like a beast. January is actually a great month to strategize and devise a plan to fund your budget for an entire year. December is not a distant memory yet and you still know ALL of the cost incurred. You can start a savings account towards having that amount ready for this upcomi9ng holiday season to ensure this is the last “Blue Monday” you’ll experience for a long time. There you go…say “Thank You January”!
Pass Go. Collect $200. Don’t Spend it.
With the holidays now over here come the SALES!!! Clearance events, 50%…75% blah, blah, blah and it will keep going on all month long. When does it end? Do you really need any of that stuff with all the pretty gifts you just got over the holidays? It’s time to learn to resist the temptation to just buy to buy. Maybe you’re an impulse shopper and buy things on the fly. You know yourself, take this month to only carry the amount of cash you budgeted for spending on whatever you’re shopping for.
One Potato, Two?
One tactic to use to paying off your credit card bills is just to pay on them one at a time. You swiped for your holiday’s gifts one at a time, use the same logic here. To save on interest fees, start with the card with the highest interest and pay more than the minimum balance due. You still need to pay at least the minimum on ALL of the credit cards you have balances on. SO for example: Card A $200 payment and Card B $50 payment, once the first card is paid off the entire $250.00 can go to the next card and continue until all cards are paid off.
Extra Money…Heck Yeah, I’m saved!
Expecting a huge tax return or a big end of year bonus? Use this as smart money to make larger payments on the larger bills. Place some of this extra cash into a savings/rainy day fund to get ready for the upcoming year and push yourself ahead with your budget goals. Look at this as not free money but an opportunity to pay down debts and boost your credit score.
There you go, well on your way of making a HUGE holiday debt comeback and feeling better on your way to it! Stay Relentless.