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SoutheastTexasWeddings.com

“You’re on Your Way”

By: Kristyn Hunt

After reading my last week’s editorial on getting your credit straight for the holiday season, we are now moving on to more steps to improve your credit for the New Year. By now you should have gathered all of your bills and calculated a total of debt owed. Remember, that must include all credit cards, lines of credit, auto and home loans, medical bills and any debt due to family and friends. Next, you need to devise a budget in order to know how much you can afford to pay each month. According to Dr. Madelyn D. Hunt, the Director of General Studies and Associate Provost of Retention at Lamar University,” Your budget must include all necessities that you use every month such as electricity, water, cable and phone.” She also stated that you must include in your budget gas (but beware that gas prices have steadily increased each month), food and essentials such as toothpaste, hair products, etc. Dr. Hunt, like many working professionals, had her issues with debt in college. She wanted to buy her mother something expensive for Christmas, but after purchasing it, realized that she couldn’t afford it. In order to pay off the bill, she was forced to eating canned beans and soup for several months. I don’t want your path to being debt-free to be that drastic, but your spending habits will have to change. That means no more Starbucks everyday! (This is a particular hard one for me.) Try every other day and then once a week and so on. You can even purchase a package of coffee for your home and brew it there. You’re not spending more money and you’re still enjoying that great taste of coffee in the morning.

I realize how difficult it may be to avoid shopping altogether, particularly more so during the holiday season. As women, we always feel the need to buy something for someone because we are deemed “nurturers” but you don’t have to always spend a lot of money. I spoke to Shannon Sams, a kindergarten teacher and a mother of a six-year-old son who stated, “I don’t buy toys for my son anymore because once I buy them, he only plays with it for a second and then moves on to something else.” Instead of buying expensive gifts for your friends and family, think about re-gifting. It’s a pain-free and non-expensive way to give during the holiday season. Just don’t re-gift a gift to the person that gave it to you! I did that before and it was quite embarrassing! Also, try purchasing gifts at the end of the year sales that many stores provide. That way you’ll get one leg up on great gifts that will work for next year. According to Carole Waghorn, Store Manager of Bath and Body Works in Central Mall, “Many people believe that Black Friday is the best selling day of the year and it may be. But that’s for certain products. You’ll get more bang for your buck by purchasing gifts at the end of the year because the companies are trying to get rid of them to make room for the New Year’s products.”

Lastly, once you have set your budget check your credit report. Your credit report is different than your FICO score. You are entitled to one free credit report from the 3 credit reporting agencies per year. Go to annualreport.com to get your reports. Check to make sure that everything on the report is credit. You can always dispute something if it’s not. We’ll discuss next week more on your credit report. Take care and remember, you’re on your way to being financially fit and debt-free. Take it one day at a time.

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