Tips for paying off post-holiday bills
Posted January 5, 2011 12:30 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
TORONTO, Ont. – Many of us took advantage of great shopping deals before and after the holidays, but they may not look quite as good once the post-holiday credit card bill comes.
But as the dreaded piece of paper arrives in your mailbox, there is no need to run and hide.
“Credit counselling services are there to help those individuals,” Laurie Campbell with Credit Canada told 680News. “I strongly suggest not-for-profit credit counselling services such as Credit Canada, where the counselling is free and you can a confidential assessment of your situation.”
“I now it’s hard to talk about, people are often stressed out about it,” she said, adding that people should not be embarrassed to talk to someone about their financial difficulties.
Credit counselling services can help individuals with everything from negotiating with credit card companies to finding ways to trim personal budgets, and many of them are not-for-profit, offering free advice.
The first step, however, is to open the credit card bill and figure just how much you owe. Then, look at how much money you have.
“Figure out where your money’s going, keep track of your expenses for a couple of weeks just to make sure that you are on side with where you think your money’s going. It’ll also give you an idea of where you can maybe cut back with your expenses,” said Campbell.
After that, you will be able to come up with a budget.
She advises credit card holders to – at the very least – try to make the minimum payment on your credit card bills.
