Although it may seem that Christmas is long gone, it has actually only been a couple of months since the festive season and New Year, and sadly many people are still reeling from the financial repercussions of the period, having spent far more than they intended to, and often having put the cost of the season on their credit card or used some other form of borrowing to pay for it.

As a result many people may find that they have still not managed to sort out their Christmas and New Year debt, and with the recession in full swing and fears over job losses this is something that people need to look at sorting out as quickly as possible.

Whilst last year was a financially turbulent one for many people there was little evidence that people cut back on their spending over the festive season, and officials from one debt charity have estimated that many people ended up spending even more than they thought they might, leaving them facing a real financial hangover for the first few months of this year. Moreover, whilst many people may have run up debts and credit cards this Christmas just gone, the charity states that many of these people had still not finished clearing debts from the previous year, which has resulted in debt being piled on top of debt.

Industry officials are now urging consumers that are still struggling to et their finances in order to be as pro-active as possible and try and reduce or streamline the debt if they cannot get rid of it altogether, particularly given the financial difficulties that many will face in months to come as the recession bites harder, the financial climate become more difficult, and job losses continue to soar. Taking action now and doing something about this debt could mean one less thing to worry about over the course of what is set to be a volatile year for many.

For those that are still in need of a credit card to fund various purchases it is advisable to ditch the high interest credit card and opt for a 0% purchase credit card, where you can enjoy a far longer period of interest free credit on purchases. If you still have an existing balance on your high interest credit card you should look at transferring this to a 0% balance transfer card, which means that you can avoid paying interest on the remainder of the balance providing you repay it in full within the interest free period specified. Measures such as these can help you to save a fortune in interest over the course of the year.

If you have dipped into your overdraft over Christmas and money is a bit tight at the moment it can be all too tempting to keep using your overdraft rather than repaying it. However, this means that you may incur costly charges each month, and if your overdraft is close to its limit you increase the chances of exceeding the overdraft limit, which can mean even higher charges. Even if you cannot clear your overdraft in one go, try repaying a small amount of it each month by making the odd sacrifice so that you clear it over a period of time.

If you seem to have accrued debts all over the place, such as several credit cards, overdraft debt, and even small loans, then it may be worth considering a consolidation loan, which will enable you to repay all of these debts and replace them with just one loan. If you are able to get a good rate on a debt consolidation loan, which should be easier now that the base interest rate has fallen to just 1 percent, then you could also cut your monthly outgoings significantly as well as cutting the number of debts that you have to deal with.

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