How to beat the budget blues

January 8, 2016 · 0 Comments

No wonder it’s so easy to get the January blues. The days are short and the weather can be cold. The holidays are over, and it seems we’re packing away the cheer at the same time as the lights and decorations. And if all that wasn’t enough, the mail carrier starts bringing bills instead of greeting cards.
Maybe you started out the Holiday season with the best intentions to keep your spending in check, but if you’re like many, you managed to overdo it at the mall. Now your budget is strained: it’s time for a plan. Here are a few tactics that might help you get your finances back into pre-holiday shape.
Try the snowball method. What happens if you find yourself with several credit accounts to pay off at once. With this approach, you sort your debts from highest to lowest. Your goal will be to make the minimum payments on all the accounts while you work at whittling down the smallest debt first. Then you move on to focusing on the next highest, and so on. By building a debt-paying snowball, you gain an important emotional advantage that allows you to see your progress more clearly.
Re-do your budget. If the reality is you’ll now be making more monthly payments, it’s time to reassess your budget. Not only will this exercise help you get organized, it will also show you places where you can make some cuts and adjustments to get a handle on those Holiday bills.
Don’t be afraid to make returns. It may well be that Aunt Susan had every good intention when she gave you that ornate sweater. If it’s only going to sit in the drawer with tags on until it takes a ride to the donation box, why not return it to the store? Many of us hesitate or feel disloyal about returning gifts, but changing them into much-needed, bill-paying cash can help you far more than keeping them stored in a closet. Even if you don’t have the gift receipts, with a little detective work and a friendly sales associate, you should be able to make the return.
Pick up a side job. Even a few hours a week can add enough cash to move your debt paying forward. Does someone in your neighborhood need babysitting a few hours a week, or a pet walked? Do you have the skills to help out an accounting office during tax season? When it comes to paying down credit card debts, every little bit really helps in the long run.
Dedicate your tax refund. Get your taxes done early. If a refund or two is coming your way, mark it “hands off” until your holiday bills are paid. While it may be tempting to earmark your refund for a new TV or a weekend away, in the long run you will have much more peace of mind by paying down those credit accounts.
Your best defense against the budget blues is a can-do attitude and a smart strategy. Put those tools to work for you, and you will be back on track in no time!

By Michelle Janzen