Australia is waking up to an almighty festive financial hangover, with new data indicating the nation racked up $29 billion worth of credit card debt in December.
Aussies spent, on average, $1,727 per credit card in the month leading up to Christmas, a Finder.com.au analysis of Reserve Bank data revealed.
Based on the average 55-day interest-free period, it’s predicted that the interest alone from the Christmas haul will cost $230 million collectively. So the quicker cardholders repay their holiday credit card debt, the less interest they’ll accrue. Four out of five card holders (81%) plan to pay off their debt in three months or less. The remaining 19% will take longer than three months to service their debt, with 5% taking a year or more to pay down their balance.
That means that some people will still be paying off last year’s Christmas debt come January 2020! Not only does this mean that some Aussies will have a cloud of debt following them until the end of 2019, it also means that their interest costs are likely to pile up.
If you can’t pay off your current Christmas balance in full and think it could take months or years to get your debt under control, it might be time to consider consolidating into one affordable monthly payment and pay it off over a short term.
Why pay up to 29% on a credit card when you may qualify for a personal loan at 10.99%, with a lower monthly payment to have this paid out quicker.
Don’t get caught again this year with no Money for Christmas… try these suggestions:-
Either way, talk to us at Green Apples Finance Australia to get you back on track with Christmas spending and end the Christmas Debt Hangover once and for all!!!!
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Shanley Financial Planning Pty Ltd trading as Steve May Financial Services (ABN 19 612 825 180) is a Corporate Authorised Representative of (1265706) of Sensibly Pty Ltd (AFSL 533923)
Nick Shanley, Steve May and Luke Styles are Authorised Representatives of Sensibly Pty Ltd (AFSL 533923)