It’s easy to let credit card spending get out of control during the holidays. I’ll tell you how to get debt-free in this week’s Money Minute:
Do the math. Use an old-fashioned spreadsheet or a budgeting app like Mint to get all your credit accounts in one place. A few other great budgeting tools to use: You Need a Budget and LevelMoney.
Remove temptation. Leave your credit cards at home or freeze them in a block of ice — whatever it takes to stop yourself from racking up more debt. There’s another debt trap you may be overlooking: your smartphone. Apps like Seamless, Uber and Groupon can make it so much easier to keep up expensive habits like eating out, taking cabs and spending on frivolous junk. And thanks to the ease of fingerprint ID technology, it can literally take a few seconds to make a major purchase you might regret later. Do yourself a favor and delete any apps you find particularly tempting.
Prioritize. Debt with the highest interest rates should be paid off first and fastest. Make sure you’re meeting minimum payments on the rest. Once you pay off one card, move on to the next one.
Find extra cash around the house. Return unwanted gifts and put that cash toward your debt. Ask your kids to round up old toys and list them on sites like eBay or Swap.com. Sites like ThredUp and eBay are also great for selling gently worn clothing. Springtime is also prime time for outdoor garage or yard sales.
Trim expenses. Cancel cable for a few months. Bike to work. Look up low-cost recipes and play shopping trips carefully. Try to get creative about finding room in your budget.
More money questions? Check out Ask Yahoo Finance on Tumblr.
Mandi Woodruff is a reporter for Yahoo Finance and host of Brown Ambition, a new podcast about career and finance.
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