How to crush your holiday debt

The holidays have left without a trace. Well, almost. Long after the decorations have come down, you still have debt hanging around.

Don’t let it put a damper on your year. Here’s what you can do to take control of your holiday debt.

REVIEW WHAT YOU OWE

First, gather a few important details about your debt. Make a list of your accounts for each type of debt you have. Perhaps you spread holiday purchases across a couple of different credit cards and a “buy now, pay later” loan, for example.

For each debt, note how much you owe, the minimum payment amount, interest rate and payment due date. Staying organized can prevent bills from sneaking up on you.

Then, look closely at the receipts from your holiday purchases, says Bruce McClary, senior vice president of communications for the National Foundation for Credit Counseling. “Compare those with what’s listed on your credit card statement to make sure that you’re accurately being charged and there are no errors that could end up being costly,” McClary says.

FIT IT INTO YOUR BUDGET

Figure out how much you can afford to pay toward debt each month. The 50/30/20 budget is one framework you can use to balance your debt with your income and other expenses. With this rule, 50% of your monthly income goes toward necessities, 30% goes toward wants and 20% goes toward savings and debt repayment.

You can also use budget apps like Mint and You Need a Budget to automatically track your spending by category, says Jeff McDermott, a certified financial planner in Saint Johns, Florida.

“That just gives somebody a baseline to get a sense of, ‘What do I normally spend? What sort of cash flow should I have to start paying down some of this debt? Are there things that I’m overspending on that I should be able to reduce a little bit to free up...