The holiday credit card bills are here and the verdict is in: we definitely spent more than we intended. Now we need to get back on track. Any advice on how we can ourselves and our kids on a bit of a “spending diet”?You’ve already zoomed through the two steps that most people find the most difficult - admitting that they’ve overspent during the holiday season and tallying up all the holiday bills. So now that you’ve come through the most painful part of the process, you’re ready to fast-forward through to the solution phase.
While you might be temped to put your family on a total “deprivation diet” in an effort to eliminate that holiday debt overnight, you’ll probably find that a more moderate approach works best. If you make your cutbacks too drastic, you could be setting yourself up for a spending backlash, just as an overly strict diet can lead to a post-diet binge.
So come up with a budget that allows for a few extras, but that will still allow you to pay off that holiday credit card debt reasonably quickly. The last thing you want, after all, is to still be carrying around this year’s credit card debt when you start your holiday shopping again this year. Adopted from http://ca.lifestyle.yahoo.com/family-relationships/articles
