Are you looking for smart money moves in 2014? That is probably part of your intention as you bid goodbye to 2013. But before you can even take a step to work on your plans, have you stopped to take a look at your emotional condition? A financial recovery after the holidays, or any endeavor for that matter, can be assured of success if you are emotionally prepared to do it.
If you think that the holidays were the best time of your life, then how are your emotions after? Are you feeling as joyous as you did a few months back?
Chances are, you aren’t. There is this thing called post-vacation blues or post-holiday blues that plague people after a long break from their daily routine. And we all know there is none longer than the end of the year holidays. Starting with Thanksgiving and all the way to New Year – we have a couple of weeks jam-packed with festivities and happy cheer.
Analyzing post holiday condition
Wikipedia.org defines post-vacation blues as a mood type that people experience when they have just gone from a long holiday. In most cases, when people go back to work or are faced with the bills of their holiday expenses, they deal with depression. The intensity seems too severe compared to their emotional condition the past few weeks.
But what exactly are you facing after the holidays? Now is the time for you to seriously consider your finances after you have come back to reality. You might have a lot of financial recovery to do and you just don’t know it.
One thing is for sure – things will seem like a letdown after the holidays. The joys of not going to work every so often, the Christmas bonus and the various parties – all of these painted a carefree life that is not always the norm for the rest of the year. Well here is a breakdown of what you will encounter after the holidays.
Higher credit card debt balance. In most cases, people spend on gifts using their credit cards. Most creditors offer holiday rewards programs and these encourage consumers to use these plastic cards. This will surely end up with a higher than the usual credit card statement that could surprise you. Be ready for it and make sure that the cash budget that you have allotted for it (if any), is put in a safe place. Do not spend it on something else. Try to pay the whole balance so you can avoid the finance charges.
Increase in work load. While you may feel a bit sluggish when you return to work, you have to face the mountain of tasks that await you. The few days you spent with family and friends mean that you have a lot of email to answer. You need to clean that up. You also have to start working on the plans that you prepared before the end of the year. These are some of the things that you have to work on after the holidays.
Cluttered home. Did you go on a trip or did you have some guests over? Did you host a party for either Christmas or New Year? If so, then you may have to deal with some clutter and chaos in your home. Of course this includes the happy clutter that is brought about by the gifts that you received. But nevertheless, you have some cleaning up to do at home.
More peace and quiet. This is actually a good and a bad thing. You will relish the time right after the chaos when you have a bit of peace and quiet but too much of it can sometimes cause you a certain level of depression. That is something that you should also expect when you have just gone through the holidays.
Probably the most difficult part of the post holiday scene is your financial recovery. While cleaning the house or sorting through email will only take a few days, the bills that you have to pay for the things that you bought will haunt you for the next few months. This is sometimes what pushes people onto the brink of depression. If you think about it, these are all strong enough to erase the good times you had during the holidays.
How to help your finances recover after the holidays
Although it is a natural feeling, there are ways for you to quickly bounce back from the negative feeling that comes with the post holiday depression.
WebMD.com provide some helpful tips that will keep you from ruining the good days of the past holiday. You don’t have to feel all doom and gloom. It takes some effort but the fun doesn’t have to stop. Here are some excerpts from the experts quoted on the article.
“Think of something positive as of this very minute.” Andrew J. DuBin, PhD, professor of management (Rochester Institute of Technology).
This simply means you have to focus on what you gained – not what you lost. Stop obsessing over the money you spent but concentrate on the gifts you received. If you got a bonus check, dwell on that – regardless of the amount. Just stay positive. It really begins with your mind.
“If you keep looking back at the old year – especially last year – you will get into a downward spiral,” Susan Battley, PsyD, PhD, leadership psychologist and clinical associate professor (State University of New York).
The new year comes with a chance for a new beginning. Why will you waste your time and effort in the past? Do not let yourself be consumed by what already happened. There is nothing that you can do about that. If there is anything that you need to hold on to, it is the lessons that you have to learn from the mistakes of the previous year. Think about that and them move on forward. Make sure that the lessons are implemented and will not be corrupted into a form of fear that will hinder your financial recovery.
In terms of your finances, you also have to work on a couple of things to avoid the negative effects of holiday debt. Here are some of our suggestions for you.
Pay attention to the bills. Obviously, you need to know how much debt you have acquired over the holidays. If you used your credit card for the rewards program, you should have kept the cash budget so you can pay it off immediately.
Stop acquiring new debt. The other thing that you need to do is to stop taking in more debt. This is especially true if you cannot pay for the whole balance of your holiday debt. Finish paying the balance before you even consider buying something through credit. If you cannot afford to pay it in cash, then just don’t buy it.
Organize your debts. Having different balances with a lot of creditors can be quite confusing. If you are not careful, you may forget to pay some of them and that could mean a higher interest rate for you.
Have a plan. It helps to construct even a rough plan of how you will pay off your debts. Not only will it keep you organized, it will also allow you to track your progress. Knowing how far you have accomplished when it comes to you financial recovery can make you feel really good about yourself.
Improving your finances is easy but you need to rise up from the post-holiday blues first. And when you are successful, make sure that you will plan the next holiday so that it will not end up putting you through the blues again.