{"id":13641,"date":"2019-01-09T12:07:32","date_gmt":"2019-01-09T17:07:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/Life-Insurance-Blog\/4-tips-to-avoid-the-post-holiday-financial-hangover\/"},"modified":"2019-01-09T12:07:32","modified_gmt":"2019-01-09T17:07:32","slug":"4-tips-to-avoid-the-post-holiday-financial-hangover","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/2019\/01\/09\/4-tips-to-avoid-the-post-holiday-financial-hangover\/","title":{"rendered":"4 Tips to Avoid the Post-Holiday (Financial) Hangover"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\"4<\/p>\n

Christmas and New Year\u2019s Day has already come and gone, leaving us to \u201clook forward\u201d to Blue Monday, the (unofficial) most depressing day of the year. In 2019, Blue Monday falls on Monday, January 21, and the day is calculated by factoring in things such as weather and, yes, debt level as people start to receive their credit card statements from December.<\/p>\n

Maybe this year you \u2013 and your wallet \u2013 are feeling the blues from a holiday season of high-spending. Paying down your credit card debt may currently be your number one priority and your new year\u2019s resolution is to be more fiscally responsible. So, instead of leaving your holiday planning to last minute and putting everything on credit, you\u2019re going to plan ahead of time\u2026 starting now! It may sound unrealistic \u2013 who starts planning for Christmas is January?<\/em> \u2013 but the only way to avoid a hangover is by taking preventative measures. Drink a lot of water and follow these simple steps to never have a debt-plagued January again.<\/p>\n

Sometimes paying off credit card debt can be hard, especially when interest keeps piling up and getting in the way. Found yourself in a similar predicament? Thankfully, the American Express Essential™<\/sup>\u00a0Credit Card allows you to pay off your balance without accruing insane amounts of interest, and get your debt under control faster.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

You can easily transfer your balance\u00a0from another credit card for no fee at the time of application, and enjoy a 1.99 per cent interest rate on that balance for the first six months of cardmembership. Even on regular purchases, the interest rate on\u00a0this\u00a0card is only 8.99 per cent, compared to the typical 19.99 per cent on other credit cards.\u00a0<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\"RSM-022_2018_Best_Of_Finance_2018_Campaign_BlogPost_800x180_AE_Essential_FINAL\"<\/p>\n

Use last year\u2019s spending to plan this year\u2019s budget<\/h2>\n

You have all of the receipts and bills in front of you, so now is the best time to review exactly how much you spent on gifts, food, and other expenses over the holiday season. Use these figures to make your budget for next year and see where you could cut a few corners.<\/p>\n

Start saving, now<\/h2>\n

Now that you have a number to work towards, you can start putting aside a little bit of money each month to reach that goal. Open up a savings account that\u2019s specifically for holiday spending. It may sound over the top, but you could save up the money faster than you expected.<\/p>\n

Smaller or online-based banks are more likely to have higher interest rates because they have lower operating costs, which enables them to pass on savings to the consumer. While it currently has no physical locations,\u00a0EQ Bank\u00a0offers one of the highest interest rates on a savings account in the entire country \u2013 coming in at 2.3 per cent.<\/p>\n

\"RSM-022_2018_Best_Of_Finance_2018_Campaign_BlogPost_800x180_EQ_GIC_FINAL\"<\/p>\n

You may soon have more than enough for the holidays, with a little extra money to put towards a special purchase or a trip.<\/p>\n

If you find that your current earnings aren\u2019t enough to cover the savings, this is also a good time to look at earning some extra money. Declutter your house and plan to have a spring yard sale in March, take on a few extra hours at work or start your own side business.<\/p>\n

Buy holiday stuff NOW<\/h2>\n

Many retailers are slashing the prices on their holiday goods, so now is the perfect time to stock up. This is especially true for small items such as wrapping paper, cards, and decorations.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s only been a couple of weeks since Christmas, so you probably have a good idea of who you needs gifts this year. If your list doesn\u2019t look like it\u2019ll change too much, keep an eye out for gifts throughout the year. For example, buy winter gear for your family at end-of-winter sales. Also look out for sales on baking supplies, such as flour and sugar, and, if possible, buy in bulk a few months preceding the holidays.<\/p>\n

Plan a low-budget Christmas with friends and family<\/h2>\n

The holidays don\u2019t have to be about spending tons of money! Have a chat with your family and friends about how to keep costs low next Christmas. Plan a gift exchange with your family and a dinner out with your friends.<\/p>\n

\u2013<\/p>\n

The holiday season is all about spending\u2026 time with the people you love. And when January rolls around, those feelings of joy and love may turn into feelings of disappointment and dreariness due to post-holiday debt. Make it a bit easier on yourself by taking a few moments to make a plan and follow some of these tips.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

This post has been updated.<\/small><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The post 4 Tips to Avoid the Post-Holiday (Financial) Hangover appeared first on MoneyWise.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Christmas and New Year\u2019s Day has already come and gone, leaving us to \u201clook forward\u201d to Blue Monday, the (unofficial) most depressing day of the year. In 2019, Blue Monday falls on Monday, January...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":578,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[],"tags":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13641"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/578"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13641"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13641\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13641"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13641"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.lifeinsurance-orleans.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13641"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}