How was your Christmas?
That’s another Christmas done, the kids are back to school (hopefully for a full year) and the working year is in full swing (Covid traffic lights willing).
How’s your credit card feeling? Is it suffering from Paywave fatigue?
How about that buy now, pay later account? Has later arrived much sooner than expected?
If you are feeling the effects of post-holiday-debt-disorder you are not alone and now is the time to make one small change to prevent the same cash-tastrophe next Christmas.
Pick one thing out of Santa’s sensible sack to create your new and improved financial situation and ensure the 2022 holiday season doesn’t suffer from a debt hangover.
Start a Christmas savings account
Put a small amount of money into a Christmas savings account each week, fortnight, or month. If you put $10 a week into an account, at the end of every year you’ll have about $500 just for festive fun.
It’s easy if you set up an automatic payment to transfer the funds into the Christmas account and before you know it, you’ll forget it’s happening and have a nice win for the next holidays.
Get into the nitty-gritty of expenses to create a budget
It can be difficult to know where your money goes, especially when we live in a cashless society and most of us pay for everything with a card or click of a button. When working out a budget include paying off debts and remember to allow some money for out of the blue expenses such as haircuts, insurance, car repairs, medical care and even date nights.
Stop one unnecessary spending habit
If a debt-free Christmas is important to you, what could you give up that is not as important? Maybe you could stop having takeaways or buying limited edition sneakers. Maybe you could spend your money on a cheaper option, rather than completely quitting something. For example, learn how to do a facial at home, bake muffins rather than buying them, find a cheap sports club or exercise for free with friends instead of joining a gym.
A sneaky unnecessary expense is paying off a new phone over time by committing to a mobile plan that sells you unlimited data that you don’t use. It could cost you at least $5/month for that interest free phone deal.
Pay all your bills on time
Set yourself reminders to pay your bills on time or set up payments in advance with online banking to avoid late payments that incur penalties. Being stung by late fees is frustrating, especially when you can make the payment but simply forget to get that job done. Penalties are also super expensive, and it would be so much better to have that money for your festive fun.
Ditch one subscription
Is there one subscription you could live without? Maybe you’ll have to give up Netflix, Spotify or Audible and that small monthly fee could go towards preventing an end-of-year debt disaster.
If you feel Santa dumped a load of festive fertiliser on you, don’t despair.
The Debtfix Crew are waiting to become your real Christmas elves and want to help you work towards a stupendous 2022 celebration without a budget blowout.
Contact them now and tell them your debt-free wish list.