You, too, can recover from a Holiday Debt Hangover

A lot of holiday debt is caused by racking up the credit cards

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ESCANABA -- Christmas may be over, and many Americans will soon be receiving some gifts in the mail they wish never came.

Those dreaded holiday credit card bills may soon arrive, if they haven?t already.

According to reports from America Debt Consolidation, roughly 37% of the debt in America comes from credit cards.

And according to the New York Times, Americans have an estimated 7.7 billion dollars in loose change lying around the house.

That may be one way to gather a few extra dollars.

But if you really want to tackle your holiday debt, know what you owe on your credit cards.

Pay off the cards with the highest interest rates first.

And always pay more than the minimum.

?It feels awesome to be debt-free,? said Jennifer Pietsch of Escanaba. ?I don't have that stress. I?m not an impulse shopper. If I don't have the money, I don't go shopping. I don't like the temptation."

While impulse shopping is good for businesses, it's an action that can be regretted later.

Instead, try bargaining.

You may find some store owners to be receptive.????

?Yeah, you know, I?m pretty good about that,? said Paula Hughes Jonsson, owner of The Morrison Shop in Escanaba. ?There are different chamber discounts and different little promotions that we have going on here and there. And we try to work with the customer. We always do layaway, and layaway is always free."

And this tip applies for any holiday: stick to a budget.

?We talked about it with my family and came up with a decision that I?m not going to spend as much money as I have in the past because I don't have it to spend. But my gifts are going to be thoughtful and meaningful," said Pietsch.

Still, there's a way to get extra cash on unwanted gifts.

If you do find you got a gift card you wish you could sell - you actually can at the website plasticjungle.com. You can get up to 92% of the face value paid out via PayPal or Amazon.com Or you can even swap out the gift card for cash.

Source: http://www.uppermichiganssource.com/news/story.aspx?id=703414

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