How to Get Some Relief From Holiday Spending

Blew your budget over the holidays? Here’s How to Get Some Relief:

So the Christmas tree is gone, the decorations are back in storage and you are back at work – now when you look at your pocketbook, you realized that you overspent this holiday season.

According to a recent NRF (National Retail Federation) survey, the average consumer planned to spend an average of $935.58 during the holiday season.

Here are a few ideas on how to get your budget back on track:

Return gifts that you do not like

Yes, some stores are more flexible after the holidays, but if you received a gift receipt or do not have the receipt, you can obtain a store credit and sell it online for cash.

Resell gift cards that you will not use

According to advisory company CEB Tower Group, $1 billion on gift cards went unspent last year. If you would rather have the money, you can swap these cards at CardSwap.ca and GiftCard Granny and then use these funds to pay down your debt.

Sell items online

On Dec 27, take a look at Kijiji or eBay. Many items are still in their original packaging online for sale. Upload a few good pics and see if you can sell the items for cash that you can put towards your debt.

Re-gift

OK, so there needs to be some finesse here. If you are going to re-gift, please ensure that you do NOT give this gift back to the person who gave it to you. No brainer, right? Trust me. This happened to me! Here’s a tip, ensure that the person who gave you the gift and the new person who you are planning to give the gift to, do not know each other.

Let me know what you think, have you ever re-gifted?