A Goal-Setting Webinar for the New Year

Posted on December 31, 2020 | by Meghan Alard

Develop the best strategy to pay off holiday debt and get financially stable in 2021.

As if this year wasn’t financially stressful enough for you, the holidays probably made it even worse. It’s common for consumers to overspend during the holiday season.

Unfortunately, many use their credit cards to purchase gifts, so debt can stressfully increase during a time that’s supposed to be filled with joy.

How can you deal with holiday debt and prepare for the year ahead at the same time? Consolidated Credit’s January webinar addresses this exact issue.

View Transcript

It’s a new year, and the best time to develop a fresh approach to your finances! Consolidated Credit is here to help with a free webinar. You’ll learn how to recover quickly from holiday debt, how to set smart goals for the new year, and how to budget for success. Sign up for free today and start the new year right.

There are many great tips in this webinar that can help you overcome pandemic financial struggles and create new goals for 2021. The infographic below shows four important examples.

financial recovery after the holidays infographic

Wondering what else you can do to get ahead in 2021? After you finish watching this webinar, you can start getting organized.

Record your income

If you’ve been lucky enough to keep your job, write down the exact amount of money you receive from your paychecks each month. This could be from full-time or part-time employment. If you’ve lost your job, write down how much your household receives in unemployment insurance each month. Lastly, write down approximately how much you make from side hustles or freelance projects every month.

List all debts (and their interest rates)

Next, make a four-column chart that lists each of your debts, the total amount you owe, the interest rate, and the monthly payment. Add up all the monthly payments to see how much you are losing to debt every month.

Track all your expenses

How much do you really spend each month? Go through your credit card and bank statements from the previous month. How much did you spend, and on what? Did you splurge on food or stick to the grocery store? Did you buy way more clothing than you needed? Observe where you spent a reasonable amount and where you overspent. Save the total of your expenses for the next step.

Calculate your monthly cash flow

Add together your total monthly debt payments and total monthly expenses. Then, subtract this from your monthly income. Is the result positive or negative?

If positive, you have a positive cash flow, meaning you make more money than you spend. If negative, you are spending more money than you have. Either way, you could be spending less, saving more, and reducing your debt. Tune in to the webinar to learn how you can.