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So after spending, what seems like eternity, hours of christmas shoping, you finally got everyones Christmas gift. To bad your a last minute shopper , but never the less you did it! The gifts were wrapped, given, and teared open. And at last, you can breathe easy, you made it through another Christmas and managed to make everyone happy. And then January rolls along not only is it when old man winter decides to bless us with cold a** weather ;its when you get mail from your favorite credit card company. You're sure that you didnt spend that much (denial) until you open that envelope and see those dreaded numbers. Your mouth hits the floor, 'how could you have spent so much'. Well your not alone like you million of people will have over spent. Alot of people end up speding more that they can afford especially over the holidays. They will take out that nice plastic card and swipe. Until January's bill comes in CHA-CHING! and your left with a financial head ache. Nothing that you can really do about it.Whats done is done all that can be done now is to learn from it and not do it again . So how cant you bounce back from 'December spending and kick that January stressing' to the curve? Unfortunatly you will have to go on a 'Financial diet'. If your goal for january is to get out of the red and back into black then a Financial diet is the way to go. So how do you get started ?
1. Do some research; Look at apps or programs that help you see where you did most of the spending,
2. Identify things that you spend to much on; Omit the obvious gift shopping but if you notice that you spent alot between Novemeber and December going out on dinners then that may be something you will need to cut in january.
3. Create a Budget & Distribute it amongs needs and wants; Now that you've identify the problems, allocate a budjet and distribute it. For instance let say you give your self 500$ for the month divide that 500$ into catergories . i.e 100 is allocated for grocery 50$ is allocated to entertinement etc.
4. GET RID OF THE CREDIT CARDS ; afterall you dont need to add insult to injury (unless you want to)
5. BE CONSISTANT; The probelm arises if your not consistent with attaining your goal. If your not consistant then watch that debt of yours rise and then you'll really stress out. If you stick it out you will be grateful that you did and you will be able to actually enjoy your hard earned cash.
Remember that the point is to get back on track and eventhough there will be some money pinching , know that it wont be forever.
So what should you do to avoid another pricey holiday season shopping. Start buying your christmas presents early. If you shop early you'll have enough time to search for deals. Start making your christmas list from August ( yeah, I know, that sounds crazy!) and start shoping as of September. Since September is known for labour day and back to school; there will be alot of sales for electronics, if that is a gift you plan to give. If you pace yourself not only will you use your hard earn cash, because you are able to plan and budget around buying your gift but you will be able to pace yourself in buying each and every gift. The best part about starting early is that when the holidays roll around and everyone is running around scarbling to get their shopping done, your relaxing by the fire enjoying a nice cup of hot cocoa (or spiked eggnog).