You’re feeling what could only be called a holiday hangover. The past few weeks have been packed with indulgences, and now you’re feeling a little worse for wear. You need to take some time to recover from all that celebrating and get back to normal.
Whatever your indulgence was during the holidays, there is a recovery option for you.
When You Did…Too Much Drinking
Your holiday hangover is quite literally a hangover. You drank far too many rummy eggnogs, spiked hot chocolates and flutes of champagne in the last few weeks and you are feeling rough because of it. This is a sign to give your liver a break and recover by participating in Dry January. Dry January is a month-long challenge where you forego alcoholic drinks altogether. You might find this break from booze to be reinvigorating!
When You Had…Too Many Sweets
You’re not sure that you ate a single vegetable during the holidays. Your diet consisted of mostly baked goods 24/7. After spending weeks mostly eating gingerbread cookies, peppermint bark and chocolate truffles, your stomach isn’t feeling too great.
Your body is probably in desperate need of some nutrients. This could be a good time to learn some new healthy recipes that focus on lean proteins, whole grains and plenty of vegetables. Save your favorite recipes and whip them up during the week. If you’re not too confident with your cooking skills, you could sign up for a meal kit service with healthy options. Meal kit services tend to simplify the cooking process so that even the biggest beginners can follow their recipes and make delicious dinners.
You can still have sweets, but maybe have them for dessert instead of breakfast, lunch and dinner.
When You Did…Far Too Much Spending
You were a little spend-happy this holiday season. At every opportunity, you filled up your shopping cart with gifts, wrapping paper, cards, decorations and treats. You bought event tickets and went to winter markets. You bought yourself holiday outfits and went on spending sprees when you saw that your favorite stores were having last-minute sales. And after all of that, you realize that your finances are a complete wreck. Your savings are depleted, and your credit card balance is steep.
So, how can you recover? First, this would be a very good time to start a budget. Download one of the top budgeting apps onto your smartphone and divvy up your monthly income into expense categories. Savings and credit card repayments should be included as expense categories — and they should be considered essential ones, at that. You might need to reduce your spending for non-essential expenses, like entertainment, so that you can contribute more towards your financial recovery.
Why should you try to recover from this? Overspending can come with some serious consequences. If you’ve added too much to your credit card’s balance, you could struggle to manage repayments, or worse, max out the account. If you’ve drained your savings account, you might not be able to handle an emergency expense that pops up. In this case, you might want to look into a personal loan that’s online and fast so that you can cover the expense without the help of any savings. If your personal loan application gets approved, you can use temporary funds to solve the problem in a short amount of time. Then, you can follow a steady repayment plan through a monthly billing cycle.
It’s important that you only use personal loans for emergency purposes. They are not meant to cover everyday expenses, like your groceries.
It’s time to start nursing your holiday hangover. Follow these simple steps and get your life back on track!
