How to Survive the Holidays in Debt: Three Useful Tips from a Bankruptcy Attorney

How to Survive the Holidays in Debt: Three Useful Tips from a Bankruptcy Attorney

Are you feeling stressed this holiday season? A lot of people are, and if you're in debt that stress can be even worse. When the credit card bills pile up so does the stress. As a bankruptcy attorney I meet a lot of people who don't so much have problems providing for their families during the holidays as they do dealing with the bills afterward. If this sounds familiar to you check out these three simple tips to keep the weight of debt off your shoulders this holiday season.Be Prepared

If you're facing this predicament you'll need to set a budget to set a limit on your spending. When should you start making this budget? Right now! December can be a hectic month. If you haven't prepared a budget by then you might not have time to. Then you might overspend. This is not because you're irresponsible but because it might be easier to buy something just to get it out of the way. If you create your budget now you will have plenty of time to look for those bargains and buy the popular items before they're sold out.2)Involve Your Family Entertaining a lot of people? A big family can mean a big dinner bill. It may be a good idea to organize a family potluck dinner so that everyone can pitch in. A big family can also mean you have to buy a lot of presents. An effective way to cut costs on this front is to arrange so that everyone draws names and buys a gift for one other person. You can also cut down on decoration costs by having your kids do some arts and crafts projects.3)Forget the Card No not the Christmas cards, your CREDIT cards. Just because you're on a budget doesn't mean you won't lose track of how much you're spending, especially on a credit card. After interest and fees are applied you might be surprised how much you spend this holiday season. If you're already trying to get out of debt why would you want to add even more to it anyway?People in serious debt may think it makes sense to coast through the holidays and then declare bankruptcy after they've incurred a bunch of credit card debt. This might not be true however. One of the circumstances of filing chapter 7 bankruptcy is that you erase your credit card debt. Your creditors may be suspicious if you spend a lot on your credit card just before filing for bankruptcy. They may even try to sue you during bankruptcy if they believe you never had any intention of paying them back. What would they be suing you for? Bankruptcy fraud! They'll argue that your debt should not be discharged and then accuse you of bankruptcy fraud.If you're worried about debt this holiday season you shouldn't wait until it's too late. It might seem easy to put it off until 2011, but that is only a short term solution. You need to explore all of your options.

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