The holidays are over, presents have been unwrapped, the tree has come down, ornaments stowed neatly away, new toys put in their place, but unfortunately the leftover bills aren’t so easy to clean up.
You can’t undo the purchases you’ve made, but you can control how long you stay in debt over them. If you ended up in debt to pay for Christmas this holiday season, then here are some great tips to help you pay off those bills quickly.
Out With the Old
Now that you have bright, new, shiny stuff in your closets, it’s time to clear out the old things. If you are patient and willing to put in a little time and effort you can make money selling your old things.
Any items that are in good condition can be sold; the rest can be donated or thrown away. You can list items in your local classifieds or online classified ads. Facebook is also a good place to list things for friends and neighbors to see; some neighborhoods even have yard sale pages.
While you’re at it, get your family involved too! Kids are generally more willing to part with old toys when they’ve just gotten new ones, and they most likely have clothes from last year that they’ve outgrown.
New Budget
If you racked up a large amount of debt then you are going to have to tighten your budget for a few months. For those that are already budgeting, you will need to squeeze those numbers even more. For those of you just starting, this is the perfect time to begin.
Either way, you need to allocate your expenses so that every dollar you earn is going to the right place. You may need to cut down on eating out, impulsive buying, luxuries, and other non-essential spending for a while until you’ve paid off your debt.
The most important part of budgeting is learning to live on less money than you actually make so that you can pay off that debt and eventually, build some savings.
Find a Side Job
If your bare-bones budget still isn’t cutting it then you can always find another source of income temporarily. Its not easy working two jobs, but knowing that it is only for a few months will make it easier.
There are many options available now for working at home that make juggling two schedules much easier. Websites like TaskRabbit.com and Elance.com provide opportunities for jobs in different industries or jobs like running errands for others.
Use Your Tax Refund
If you’ve found that selling things, tightening your budget, and side hustling isn’t enough, there is one more way to eliminate a big chunk of debt: your tax refund.
Your tax refund is a great solution since it can cover a big lump sum of the debt all at once. This should be enough to make a big dent in the bill or even pay it off completely.
Recent Comments