Sponsored Video: Using Credit Cards Responsibly During the Holidays

There are plenty of ways to save money over the holiday season; reduce the amount of gifts you buy people, make some homemade gifts, use coupons, shop sales, make a budget and stick to it. However, it’s also very easy to fall into debt during the month of December by getting swept up in the frenzy of it all – especially if you don’t have a budget and swipe your credit cards too freely.

Instead of statement shock come January, here are a few tips to keep your credit card bill reasonable:

1. Use cash. This is a no-brainer if you truly don’t want a shocking credit card statement come the first of the  year.
2. Choose one card, preferably a rewards card and one with the lowest interest rate, to use for your holiday shopping. If you’re going to charge your gifts, at least you can earn rewards.
3. Make a budget and stick to it. If you choose to charge your gifts, make a limit of how much you will charge and keep a running total in an excel sheet. That way you can keep your spending in check.
4. Make a plan to get that card paid off by January. Ideally, if you charge your gifts, make a point to get the balance paid off in January so you don’t accrue too much in interest.
5. Plan for a debt-free holiday next year – start a holiday savings fund and deposit a set amount monthly. Stop repeating the same mistakes! It’s easy to just “go with the flow” and repeat the same mistakes over and over again. Breaking a cycle is difficult – but it can be done with a plan.

It’s time for January to be a month of joy and freedom, not depression and woe as you pay out the nose for spending that happened in December. This coming year is my year to break my 5-year cycle of debt. Yes, my cycle is longer and less noticeable since it’s not weekly, monthly, or annually. But here’s my plan that could be tweaked for shorter cycles:

1. Keep goals visible. Write them down and post them where you need them most.
2. Remember what bad habits you’re trying to break. Posting these somewhere is helpful as well.
3. Say NO more often to spending and immediate gratification.

I’ll be posting updates monthly to keep myself in check.

What are you doing differently to meet your goals this year?

This post is sponsored by Capital One. Watch the latest Capital One Vine videos about the new Spark business card after you’re done watching the above video.