Avoiding the holiday hangover

The holiday season is here. People are going away on holidays, spending like crazy on their credit cards, racking up debt and burning those leave days. It's the end of a long hard year, a year marked by recession and job losses, and we deserve a little bit of rest and relaxation, but the hangover could be of epic proportions come 2010. So what can you do to avoid the holiday hangover?

 

• Plan a budget
• Pay off your credit cards
• Don't spend more than you can afford

 

When times are good we tend to think that we can just get away with it, put it on the credit card, go over the budget we had set. But times are not good and debt trouble will come back to bite you quicker than would have happened before. Planning your budget, being realistic about it and then sticking to it are the hangover cures most likely to work. If you don't over-indulge then your lifestyle debt won't be as difficult to deal with come the New Year.

There are many people out there who have been fuelling their lifestyles with debt. This has become a dangerous strategy and if we want to be able to prosper in 2010 rather than fighting against the effects of 2009 then dealing with your lifestyle debt is key. Paying off your credit cards, not spending so much on that family party, taking a cheaper holiday or even just staying at home, it may not be as much fun as we feel that we deserve but it will help you deal with the holiday hangover come 2010.