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Holiday Debt Recovery Plan
Published: 12/24/2010 by Susan M. Keenan
Once the holiday season winds down, most consumers are faced with lots of debt as the credit card bills start to appear in their mailboxes or the inbox of their e-mail accounts. The best strategy for dealing with this onslaught of bills is to create a holiday debt recovery plan prior to the season’s end. However, even if you wait until afterward, you can still come up with a strategy that eases the strain of dealing with post-holiday debt.
Dealing with Bill Arrivals
Always open each bill as it arrives no matter how much you dread looking at the total balance. Once you open the bill, you should either pay the balance due immediately or label the outside of the bill with the due date and amount due. Stack all of your unpaid bills together so you have easy access to them when you decide to make payments on them.
Finding Extra Cash
Since the likelihood of finding a part-time job after the holiday season is small, you are going to need to look for other ways to secure the extra money you need to pay off some of the bills. Start by cutting down on your monthly expenses. Use all the standard practices of brown bagging your lunch, getting your coffee from home, and eliminating all but essential purchases. When shopping for groceries, look for sales and less expensive brands to cut back on this necessary expenditure. You can also try and sell some of your unwanted items on such sites as cheapcycle.com or ebay.com in order to pick up a few extra dollars.
While you might not save a lot of money with these strategies, the money does add up. Every little bit that you save means that you have more to use to cover the expense of one of your bills. Another place to look for spare cash is to gather all of the loose change sitting under the sofa cushions, in between the car seats, in your coat pockets, or on top of the dresser. If you are like most consumers, you have more than one credit card and probably a few stores cards too. Some of these are bound to have lower balances than other accounts, so use your change to pay those down.
If you have children, consider staying at home more often so you don’t need to pay for the services of a babysitter. Alternatively, you can swap babysitting services with a friend or relative. Instead of going out to the movie theater to see the newest flick, why not rent a movie at a place that only charges one dollar a night for a movie rental?
Handling Returns
If you received any gifts that you do not want to keep, you should return them for a refund promptly. Many stores have implemented shortened return periods for their merchandise. If you miss the cut off date, you are going to be stuck with the unwanted merchandise. Ask the gift giver for the gift receipt if one is available so that you receive the full price for the item. Remember to bring it with you when you go to make the return. It is at this time that you should also return any items that you purchased with the intention of giving it as a gift but failed to use. Why bother keeping merchandise that you are not going to use?
Make Preparations for Next Holiday Season
In order to avoid the same type of financial problem next year, start a holiday debt recovery plan ahead of time. Instead of waiting until after the holiday season to cut down on expenses, start to do so a month or two before you begin your holiday shopping. If you decrease your credit card spending on non-essentials prior to your holiday shopping activity, your credit card bills are going to be lower than usual. Take the money that you save and use it to spend cash on some of your holiday shopping instead of using your credit card. You can also open up a savings account and begin to make small deposits once you have your existing credit card debt resolved.
