Raleigh—It’s hard to believe it’s been a whole month since the Christmas holiday, but many people are still feeling the pinch in their pockets. The Better Business Bureau of Eastern North Carolina says from parties and presents, to travel and vacation, many of us spent a lot of money over the holiday season. 

Our Caroline Blair sat down with Alyssa Gutierrez of the BBB of Eastern NC, for a look at how we can recover from the holiday spending.  They offered these tips to help get on track. 

BBB of Eastern NC Offers Tips for Recovering from Holiday Spending**

Develop a Plan — Before you begin paying off any bill, it is important to develop a plan for paying down debt as quickly as possible without dipping into emergency savings or borrowing money. There are plenty of great online resources that help monitor money and get your budget inline.

Put Your Credit Cards Away — In an effort to avoid creating more debt, put credit cards away and out of your wallet to avoid the temptation of using them. Some credit card companies allow their customers to freeze their cards temporarily, which helps dissuade them from using the cards, as well.

Pay Extra Whenever You Can — When repaying debt and trying to regain financial stability, it is always best if you can pay more than what the monthly minimum of what you owe is. This will help get the debt down and help you pay it off quicker.

Stay Out of the Stores (Online and In-Person) — When facing a post-holiday debt situation, avoid going to the mall or shopping online. One of the easiest ways to help curb online shopping is to unsubscribe from email lists, which often advertise tempting sales and deals after the holiday season.  

Return Anything You Didn’t Use/Unwanted Gifts — Take an inventory of the items you bought for the holidays that you didn’t end up using (paper plates, tree decorations, etc.), or if you received a gift that you can return without hurting anyone’s feelings, then go ahead and return the item. When you return an item you bought with your credit card, it’ll push down your balance some. When you return an unwanted gift, you’re gaining some much-needed cash you didn’t have on hand before, which you may need for paying your bills.

Other options to help consumers save money include:

Use the 50/50 Trick — This is a super handy trick for those who tend to spend and save nothing. It’s easy, whenever you make a purchase that’s a non-necessity, you put the same amount of what you spent on your purchase into your savings account. It’s a great way to hold yourself accountable for your purchases and build a safety net for yourself along the way. 

Employ the Cash Method — According to NY Times,studies have shown that when a person shops with plastic they’re more likely to spend more than a person who shops with cash. This occurs because when you swipe your card you don’t have to see your money literally going away like you do when you’re shopping with cash. So, instead of carrying plastic around in your wallet this new year, carry cash instead (and only carry what you’re budget allows you to spend for the week or month).

Open a Holiday Savings Account Now — One way to make sure you don’t end up end the same situation when the holiday seasons rolls around again is to start saving now by opening up a holiday savings account. When you create your budget, figure out how much you can afford to spare for savings and have it automatically transferred whenever you get paid. The balance will add up over the year and it’s a super easy way to not get sucked into the holiday-spending-hole again.

Courtesy**: BBB of Eastern NC.