Financial recovery after the holidays

We didn't go over budget during the holidays but there have been many years when we did. If this has happened to you and you're now facing a lot of unwanted bills, I hope we can help. I invite all the readers here to join together to help everyone who needs to get back on their feet again.  Every day, in emails and comments, I'm reminded that this blog has the potential to help people. If you're in a sound financial position, or if you're paying off debt successfully, I encourage you to share your knowledge to help fellow readers.

I hope there will be a number of you who comment with good ideas below. We all have our ups and downs in life. Today you might be helping someone recover from overspending, tomorrow it may be you or me who needs help.

Even if you have one or two incomes coming in, you will have to wait to work the time needed before you collect your pay, and when you do, will there be money leftover to help you get back on your feet? I think the best thing to do is to actively look for ways to make a bit of spare cash. And I guess that will take some work on your behalf but it's better than having to pay extra interest on your debt or fees because you can't make a payment.  Try to pay your mortgage or rent on time, as usual. If you can manage that, these steps to earn extra cash might make all the difference towards getting back on track.

Here are some of the things I would do if I needed to find some extra money:

• Live off my stockpile for two weeks.  This would leave two week's food budget money to be put towards the holiday debt.
• Declutter my entire house, shed and garage and have a garage sale. You're hitting two birds with one stone doing this - getting rid of "stuff" and, hopefully, paying off debt.
• Eat vegetarian meals every second day for a month. This would free up two week's of money usually spent on meat, chicken and fish.
• See if you can find a temporary job or freelance work.
• If possible, if you're not on a contract or at the end of your contract, cut off services such as an extra phone, Netfix, pay TV etc to maximise your savings. You can reconnect again later (if you want to) when you're in a better financial position.

When you put in the time and effort and it starts paying off, make sure you put all that extra money towards your debt. Temptation is a terrible thing. Don't start thinking that the extra money is for spending. You've been down that track and now you're trying to repair the damage. Nothing can beat the feeling of being in charge of your debt and then being debt-free. So stop the guilt trip, just do what you need to do, pay off the debt and when you're back on track, continue to pay off whatever you can as fast as you can. Because when you have no debt, life will change and you'll feel that anything is possible. And maybe it is.

What are your ideas to get back on track after overspending?