Here’s a little fact to spoil your holiday cheer:  According to Nerd Wallet, 52% of American went into debt for Christmas 2022 and of that group, just less than a third of them still have not paid off the balance!

Here are some ideas for getting out of this debtor’s prison:

1. Make at least the minimum payments. No matter how tight things are, don’t skip a payment.  Make at least the minimum payment or your credit score will be impaired.
2. Pay off that balance! In my opinion, you should never carry a balance but should pay the balance in full every month, thereby avoiding interest charges.  But I should have shared this advice by in October – for some, it’s too late!
3. Start planning for Christmas 2024 now. Yes it’s early.  Paying off Christmas 2023 is a good place to start.  Then save in advance for 2024 to avoid being in the same mess January 2025!
4. Set spending limits and stick to them. This may apply not only to gifts, but also to what you’re going to spend on yourself.
5. Don’t neglect other obligations like student loans. Fail to keep  up the payments and the balance will grow and your credit score will decline.

Christmas 2024 will be a lot merrier when you’re debt free – what a great present to give yourself.

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Traveling for the Holidays?  Here’s a few ideas on saving a shekel or two so you’ll still have enough left to play Santa Claus.  No bah humbug for you!

Think Flexible

December 26^th is one of the most intense flying days of the year.  Can you extend someone’s Christmas cheer by showing up the first week in January?  Or kick off the season early in the middle of December.  Set up alerts on travel sites like Kayak or Google Flights to notify you when there is a price drop on a flight you’ve been monitoring and jump on a good deal.

Think Trains Planes and Automobiles

Hey, maybe we could make this idea into a movie!  Until then, consider all the modes of transportation available. Take a train and enjoy the sites.  Or maybe you can share the driving on a longer trip.  If your destination is a big city, consider rideshare services like Uber or Lyft and avoid the expense and hassle of having to park.  Maybe if you’re going somewhere warm, you can even rent a bike.

Think Lodging Options

Use sites like Expedia or Travelocity to compare prices and find deals. Consider alternative lodging options such as booking an Airbnb or Vrbo. For the younger crowd and the young at heart, and if you don’t mind sharing accommodations, try hostels. Or if you’re going somewhere warm, even consider camping.

Think Picnic

Part of the fun of travel is trying the local cuisine, but daily dining can really blow out your budget and maybe your waistline. Bring food from home or plan on a trip to the  local grocery store and enjoy some picnic lunches instead of every meal at a restaurant.

Think Partners

Cost share by traveling with buddies.

Think Rewards

Traveling and time with family is its own reward, but don’t forget about those travel points or bonuses you accumulated on various credit cards.

Have a safe and wonderful Christmas and New Year!

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Makin’ a list, checkin’ it twice.

Before hitting the mall or your favorite online source, check with your budget to make sure there’s a surplus available for you to play Santa Claus.  Make a plan and stick with it.  Don’t let emotion get you in financial trouble.  Running low on funds with more names on your list?  Move them over to the naughty column!

Start Early

OK, the naughty list can’t be the remedy for when you run short of funds.  So we’ll need to keep going on finding a way to stretch those gift dollars.  Start early.  You may pick off some early season sales.  Even if not, starting earlier keeps your options open and is less likely to push you into budget busting panic mode when deadlines loom and gifts have still not been purchased.

Get the Best Deal

There are always deals to be seized upon Black Friday and Cyber Monday, but let’s get a little more creative. Use a browser extension like Honey that will automatically try promo codes at checkout time. Make sure you’re not missing out on any easy deals and discounts. Use tools like Google Shopping to track prices. Set up an alerts for price discounts on items you’re thinking of buying.

Make the Most of Credit Card Rewards

Here again, starting early is key.  You might need to get a new credit card to really maximize those cash back rewards.  An internet search will point you on your way.

Consider Unconventional Gifts

It’s the thought that counts, right?  If you’re crafty, make those gifts yourself.  If you’re not, how about volunteering your services where they’re needed?  Your grandmother would appreciate her driveway snow getting shoveled over a sweater featuring dogs playing poker.  What about some of those magical cookies you make?  Or even babysitting services?  How about help putting up the holiday lights or taking them down?  Even cleaning out a garage or basement can be a winner.

Bottom line, don’t make holiday largesse put you in a financial bind that becomes a New Year’s resolution!

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Hi Everyone!  Welcome to this guest post from MoneyWithJim.org!

While recessions can’t be avoided, they can be better prepared for if you start planning for them in advance. Here are some helpful tips on how to get right down to it.

Save up as much as you can

Saving up as much as you can as early as you can is an extremely valuable step in the right direction when a recession hits. This way, you’ll have access to your own funds and not borrowed funds, which can come at a higher cost than you’re willing to pay for it.

Spend as little as you can

On the flip side of the coin, you should be trying to spend as little as possible in your everyday life to adjust more easily if you had to cut your salary in half, for example. Getting into this practice now before tough times hit will give you the opportunity to spend less without the stress, as it’ll be your training ground before the storm hits.

Think outside the box

Few jobs are 100% secure, so you should think outside of the box to secure your income in other areas. From starting a side hustle to expanding your investment portfolio, there are numerous options you can consider to soften the blow of a recession. Speaking of softening the blow, what if you could avoid the blow altogether with recession-proof jobs that aren’t as affected as much by the state of the economy? Some examples of careers that you could pursue on the side to help boost your income include repair services, accounting, or even freelance services to keep you busy and your pocket fuller at a time when you could use the distraction. Furthermore, since each of these is a service-based business, you don’t require much start-up capital at all to get going in the first place.

Get organized

Being organized is often seen as an underrated skill until you have to find those all-important documents you’re looking for in a hurry. Add this to being in panic mode, and this might even cause you to overlook or gloss over the fine print, which may be to your detriment. If you’re dealing with large PDF files, you can use a tool if you want to extract just some of the pages, making them easier to handle.

Pay off your debts

If you have quite a bit of outstanding debt, then you can safeguard your finances better by settling your outstanding debt as fast as possible. Start with settling the largest amounts with high interest first so that the interest doesn’t snowball into something that is unmanageable. And then, before you know it, your balances and the relevant interest amounts will start to reduce over time until you eventually owe very little.

Pay attention to your mental health

If you’re feeling overly stressed, you can’t be expected to think clearly. Moreover, prolonged periods of stress can lead to serious health issues, which can end up costing quite a bit to remedy. Paying attention to your mental health and health, in general, can help you overcome and even prevent the negative consequences of stress so that you can make more financially sound decisions at critical times.

Getting through a recession favorably may sound like hard work. However, you can succeed when you are open to options such as taking on that side hustle you may not have been open to before to help you thrive in, through, and beyond a dreaded recession.

Inflation is eating a hole in everyone’s pockets, let’s make sure you’re not sending the utility company any extra money.  Here’s a few ideas:

1. Switch to LED bulbs. This might be a no brainer.  You can’t even buy energy hogging incandescent bulbs anymore for most applications.  But beware the decorative lights in your apartment.  Those might be old school energy hogging bulbs.  So check the bath bar light and make sure those decorative bulbs are LEDs.  Likewise, you may have some vintage pendant lights, sometimes called Edison bulbs, that are still incandescent.  Finally, some of your bulbs are hiding behind ceiling fixtures.  Check everything.  Unless you live at a Decker Properties apartment, where we’ve already done this.
2. Check your refrigerator setting. Don’t run it any colder than you need to.
3. Consider advanced power strips (APS). Many electronic items continue to consume power even when they are off.  Advanced power strips will turn them completely off.    There are two different kinds of APSs:
   1. Tier One Strips cue off one device as the control. For example, if you designate your TV as the control, if you turn your TV off, all other appliances plugged into the APS are turned off too.
   2. Tier Two Strips have a motion sensing device that can additionally turn off electronics not in use.
4. Manage your water consumption. You might be surprised to learn that the appliance consuming the greatest amount of water in the home is the commode.  If you hear your toilet running spontaneously, be sure to call for maintenance.  There’s probably a slow leak because of a bad gasket, but these seemingly innocuous leaks can cost a fortune.  If you live at a Decker Properties apartment, you probably have a two-stage flush toilet for flushing liquid waste with just a little water and solid waste with more water, helping you save.  Otherwise, it may be gross, but remember this rhyme:  If it’s brown flush it down, if it’s yellow be mellow.

If inflation has invaded your budget to the point where you’re going to look like Ebenezer Scrooge, consider these five tactics to stretch your savings to put you back in good standing with your old buddy Bob Cratchit.

1. Compare pricing. That smart phone isn’t just for selfies with Santa.  And you can be more sophisticated than just doing an internet search on an item.  No surprise, there’s an app for that, like ShopSavvy, Camelizer and PayPay Honey.
2. Shop Early and Often. Starting earlier may help score the best deals.  Look for coupons.
3. Tag team offers and deals. There can be coupons with cash back offers on the same item.  Explore Rakuten, CouponCabin and Ibotta.
4. Get to know local small business owners and managers. Maybe they’ll cut you a break or help you find a deal.
5. Talk to those on gift list about scaling back. This is where Jacob Marley meets Ebenezer Scrooge in a mutual decision to just make do with less.

Merry Christmas!

OK, this is out of control.  Inflation as high as we’ve seen in 40 years.  And wages aren’t keeping pace.  How do you get your budget back in line?  Here are some ideas.

1. Think priorities. Rent payments, utilities and food come first.  You’ve got to have a place to live.  Transportation needs come second.  You’ve got to have a way to get to work. Next come the items with consequences attached like taxes, child support and insurance.  Finally, try to keep up at least the minimum payments on credit cards to preserve access.
2. Think support. There are a host of aid programs that weren’t out there before that are available now due to Covid.  We’ve dedicated one of our team members to helping our residents navigate what’s available and how to apply.  If you don’t live with Decker Properties, try calling 211 or visit 211.org to find available assistance.
3. Think call. Lenders, credit card agencies, insurance companies and other creditors might be willing to work with you if you call them up and tell them you’re having a problem.  This is way better than just ignoring the matter and becoming delinquent.
4. Think family. Hopefully, you remembered Mom on Mother’s Day because you could use her help now.  It can be awkward to ask family and friends for help, but better that then the consequences of default.
5. Think Extra Cash. Now would be a good time to sign up for some overtime or look for a second job.  Or you might be in a good position to ask for a raise at work.  We covered how to do that a previous post that you can access here.  Finally, maybe you can change jobs entirely for more pay.

College can be the best years of your life.  Should be that way, since it can seem like the most expensive years of your life!  Congratulations on your graduation, now let’s figure out how to get you out of debt:

1. Make a list of all your loans. 90% of student loans are federal loans that can be tracked through the US Department of education website at studentaid.gov. Private loans would appear on your credit report.  You can get a copy of your credit report at www.AnnualCreditReport.com .
2. Make sure you stay in contact. Chances are, you’ve moved.  Even your email may have changed.  You don’t want to lose track of your loans, fail to make payments and have it ruin your credit.  Go back to studentaid.gov and make sure your contact details are up to date.
3. Develop a payment strategy. Federal loans at studentaid.gov have myriad payment options.  Right now, federal loans have to interest being assessed.  That might make it a great time to concentrate on paying back any private loans.  If you refinance federal loans to a private loan, you may lose benefits.  Federal loans include the opportunity to qualify for partial loan forgiveness and temporary payment suspension during layoff.  Private loans will probably not include such benefits.  Keep in mind that the faster you pay any loan back, the less interest you will incur.
4. Consider an income driven plan. Again, this usually applies to just federal loans.  There is the opportunity to qualify for loan forgiveness, but only after at least 10 years of payments or even 25 years of payments.    There are also graduated payment plans that automatically increase your payments over time in anticipation of higher earnings over time.
5. Check other forgiveness options. With federal loans, teachers, doctors, nurses and others working for certain nonprofits are eligible for loan forgiveness after 10 years of service in some instances.
6. Apply traditional debt retirement strategies. Entire books have been written on this topic.  Consider applying any wage increases, inheritances or other windfalls to your student debt.  But the key thing is to have a plan and stick to it.  A large student debt can seem intimidating.  Big problems can be solved by small actions made consistently.  You may surprise yourself.