Paying Off Your Christmas Credit Card Bills
Christmas is over. The presents have all been unwrapped. The decorations are all stored away until next year. And now you’re just waiting for the January surprise…that’s right, your credit card bills will soon start to arrive in your mailbox!
If you’ve been careful and tracked your spending habits, your January “surprise” may not be much of a surprise. If not, well…we all know that sinking feeling as you open those bills and realize just how much the holidays cost this year.
Unless you want to spend most of the New Year paying off last year’s bills, you’ll definitely want to pay off those credit cards as quickly as possible. Here are a few tips to help you get started:
- Stop spending! Many people get Christmas bonuses, monetary gifts from relatives, and the like, and then not only spend that money, but continue to use their credit cards to buy the things they wanted for Christmas and didn’t get. Or they feel entitled to it, since so much money was spent on everyone else during the holidays. Don’t fall into this trap. Stop spending. Stop using the credit cards and start spending responsibly again.
- Always pay more than the minimum amount due! If you can possibly afford it, pay as much as you can towards the balance on your cards. Consider putting that Christmas bonus, or that extra cash you received as gifts, toward paying down, or paying off, your credit card bills.
- Consider a balance transfer to a card with a lower interest rate, or even a 0% introductory interest rate, that will allow you to transfer the balances of all your credit cards to one account. Then, pay the account off before the introductory period expires. (And don’t use the other cards in the meantime!)
- File your income tax return as quickly as possible, if you normally get a refund, and use your refund to pay off your credit card balances.
And finally, a quick tip for next Christmas:
- Set a responsible budget for holiday spending and stick to it! Many people get so wrapped up in Christmas and trying to get everything that everyone wants, that they forget about all the bills that are piling up. Don’t allow this to happen to you. Keep track of what you spend on each and every person on your gift list, and of what you put on each and every credit card that you have. That way, there’s no January “surprise” in your mail box next year!