Overspending is a real issue during the festive season. People tend to get carried away with the Christmas spirit and spend more than they should, and then when it gets to January, their credit cards are in the red and their bank account looks pale. The unfortunate reality is that when we overspend during the festive season, our debt obligations remain and we are left struggling in the first month of the new year.
If you blew your budget this festive season, your financial hangover may be just as painful as a real one, and it may take some time and planning to fix.
How to get yourself back on track?
- Create a sustainable budget
Not having a budget is probably what contributed to your overspending during the festive season. Keeping track of how much you earn vs how much you spend is important to protect your financial health.
- Sell your unwanted gifts
Instead of leaving your unwanted gifts to collect dust, consider selling them. Sites like Facebook Marketplace allow users to buy and sell goods. Any income generated from the sale of your unwanted gifts can be put towards paying off your debt. Alternatively, if you don’t have any unwanted gifts, then consider selling some of your pre-loved items that you no longer use.
- Consider doing a ‘no spend January’
Doing a no spend January is a great way to save on unnecessary expenses! Things like eating out at lunch time, takeaway coffee and drinks at the bar after work can work out to be costly. By cutting some of these things out will allow you to free up some cash to pay your debt, however, depending on your debt level, you may need to extend this for an extra month. Check out our guide explaining how a no spend January can help you.
- Switch to cash
Debit and credit cards make payments so effortless, especially when it comes to online payments. Paying with cash often makes your spending easier to track and it also limits how much you spend on each shopping trip. If you only take R500 with you when you go shopping, and you leave all your cards at home, then you will only be able to buy things up to the value of R500.
If you’re struggling to get your life back on track and the burden of debt feels too much to deal with alone then you should get in touch with Debt Movement to discuss your options.
At Debt Movement we provide professional debt advice and solutions that help you move out of debt. We offer non-judgemental financial guidance to relieve the burden of financial strain and offer support on your journey to financial freedom. Request a free call back today.