By Mary Parker Draper, Extension Agent – Smith County
It is easy to overspend during the holidays. Between gifts, potlucks, travel expenses, and decorations, your credit card bill may have been piling up, so what do you do now?
Michigan State University suggests the following steps to reduce your credit card debt:
- Assess your situation by finding out exactly what you owe on each credit card.
- Make a list of your credit cards and include the balance on each card, the interest rate, and if there are any annual fees on the cards. Make the decision to not add additional debt to your credit card.
- Calculate your monthly income.
- Determine how much your monthly bills will be, including rent or mortgages, utility payments, credit card bills, insurance payments, cell phone, and Internet bills.
- Determine how much you spend on food, medication, etc.
- After you have determined how much money is available to spend every month and where you are currently spending your money, you can decide if you have extra money to put on your credit card balances.
- If you have more than one credit card bill, start reducing your balance one credit card at a time. Start with the highest balance or the highest interest rate and pay a fixed amount extra each month, such as $70.00. You can also start with the card with the lowest balance each month to reduce the number of cards you are paying each month.
- Continue to make the minimum payment on all of your other cards.
Many times there are better deals on merchandise after the holidays. If you do not have the money for it, do not be tempted to spend more just because you think you will save money. Here are some additional tips to limit your credit card damage:
- Limit eating out
- Try to find a side job, such as tutoring or coaching
- Limit social media as advertisements come into play and may be tempting
- Use cash or your debit card for expenses
- Start planning for next holiday season
For more information, check out https://www.canr.msu.edu/news/how_to_get_rid_of_credit_card_debt.
Earthquake Cake
1 box German Chocolate cake mix
1/3 cup oil
3 eggs
1 1/3 cup water
2/3 cup shredded coconut
1/2 cup (or more) chocolate chips
1/2 cup pecans
1/2 cup butter
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 pound confectioners’ sugar
Preheat oven to 350°. Grease a 9 x 13 baking pan. First, sprinkle coconut, chocolate chips, and pecans. Mix cake mix with oil, eggs, and water. Pour into pan. Mix cream cheese, butter, and confectioners’ sugar together and spoon onto uncooked cake mix. Take a knife and swirl around. Bake about 35 to 45 minutes. It is done when it’s firm in the pan when you shake it. (The toothpick test doesn’t work for this cake!) No icing needed. Submitted by Vickie Givens, Defeated FCE Club.
