payment due date. Staying organized can
prevent bills from sneaking up on you.
Then, look closely at the receipts from your
holiday purchases, says Bruce McClary, senior
vice president of communications for the
National Foundation for Credit Counseling.
“Compare those with what’s listed on your
credit card statement to make sure that you’re
accurately being charged and there are no errors
that could end up being costly,” McClary says.
FIT IT INTO YOUR BUDGET
Figure out how much you can afford to pay
toward debt each month. The 50/30/20 budget
is one framework you can use to balance your
debt with your income and other expenses.
With this rule, 50% of your monthly income goes
toward necessities, 30% goes toward wants and
20% goes toward savings and debt repayment.
You can also use budget apps like Mint and
You Need a Budget to automatically track your
spending by category, says Jeff McDermott,
a certified financial planner in Saint
Johns, Florida.
“That just gives somebody a baseline to get a
sense of, ‘What do I normally spend? What sort
of cash flow should I have to start paying down
some of this debt? Are there things that I’m
overspending on that I should be able to reduce
a little bit to free up some cash to attack the
debt?’” McDermott says.
PICK A PAYMENT STRATEGY
Once you have a solid understanding of how
much you owe and what your budget is, make a
repayment plan. You’ll pay off your holiday debt