5 Rules For Managing Your After-Christmas Bills
Snow, lights, tree decorations, ribbons and bows. All very pretty. After-Christmas bills. Not so pretty.
Every season, many people tend to get in a little over their heads thanks to the magic of the credit card combined with the magic of holiday cheer. Hey, it’s a time for giving. But you don’t want to keep giving interest payments to your credit card company for the next six months afterwards.
Not to worry. There are a few rules you can take advantage of that will help out immensely. These are the 5 rules for managing your after-Christmas bills:
- Put some thought into the gifts you buy. Time equals money. It’s easy to buy stuff that’s hot, cool, trendy and so on. It’s also usually more expensive. It’s supposed to be the thought that counts. A little thought will help you find the perfect gift and save you a few dollars at the same time. Besides, all the latest IT stuff on the shelves is usually follow-the-crowd and impersonal anyway.
- Make a budget. If you’re strapped for cash, then make up a list of people you have to buy gifts for and assign a budget for each person. If you go over budget on one gift, try to trim the budget on another gift. Expand your budget to include whatever decoratons, holiday festivities, and however many tons of chocolate you also plan on buying. Then expand your budget some more and make sure your Christmas budget fits into your personal budget. Save all your receipts.
- Get involved with your budget. The biggest mistake is to not look at how much you’re spending. There are people who earn thirty dollars a day that manage to save for the future, and there are those who earn thirty dollars a minute who can’t save a dime. The numbers might be really scary. Face the fear and keep track of all your earnings and your expenses. People always struggle because they don’t want to think about the numbers. Poor people that win the lottery become poor again because they don’t want to think about at the numbers. Be aware. Look at your budget. Plan ahead. Make sacrifices. Creating wealth is a mindset, and so is wasting it.
- Lower your interest payments. Department store credit cards charge the highest interest rates. Next are regular credit cards like Visa, Mastercard and Amex. The break-your-legs rates that payday loans charge are nothing but pure evil. There are other options, and some great ones. You can sign up for a new credit card. Many banks have offers that allow you to transfer the balances of other credit cards to their card and charge you no interest for a certain amount of time. Look at these offers very carefully. Figure out if you can pay off the entire balance before interest charges start and look at what the rate will be once the interest charges do start. Another option is to get a line of credit from your bank and use it to pay off your credit cards. Often, you can get an LOC that only charges interest at prime plus 1 or 2%. If your bank won’t give it to you, talk to some other banks - they just might want your business.
- Get great advice. If you’re not a financial guru, then find one. Talk to your wealthy friends or family members and tell them you need help figuring out the best way to attack your bills and win. Read some financial books. Surf the internet to find great advice from respected money gurus. If you get a variety of opinions from different sources, you can use them to form your own perfect plan af attack.
