The holiday season is one of the happiest times of the year for most people, and this is the same in the United Arab Emirates as it is everywhere else in the world.
People go on holiday, buy souvenirs and presents, and generally engage in activities designed to lose some of their stress, but on the downside, people can also overspend as a result of the holidays and accumulate debt on their credit cards.
Anyone who is worried about having to pay off the credit card debt accumulated in the holiday season can, however, follow a number of simple tips that can be a big help to pay it off.
The first and perhaps most important of these tips is to make an accurate analysis and assessment of your finances.
A review of your financial situation, including your monthly budget in addition to short-term and long-term financial goals, will help you to work out the credit limit that is workable for you.
Cardholders need to list all of their outstanding debts, their minimum monthly payment amounts and any applicable interest rates, as well as the time in which they would prefer to be debt-free.
Paying off credit card debt from holidays may be more complex than it may initially appear, and cardholders need to ensure that they have a well-structured strategy in place to make certain that the repayments are being made correctly.
Cardholders should pay off credit card bills that come with the highest interest rates, and this can be achieved by paying the minimum monthly amount to avoid incurring any interest.
It is also a good idea for cardholders in the UAE to review the credit cards they make use of on their holidays or for travel purposes in order to be aware of all of their different advantages and disadvantages and to avoid future difficulties.
Cardholders should discontinue any credit cards that come with high interest rates and annual fees and try to use cards that offer greater reward points in order to make the most of their cards.
It is important for cardholders to maintain their credit score, and one of the best ways to avoid damage to your credit rating is to make timely repayments of all debts.
Cardholders need to assess their credit rating again after they have paid off their holiday credit card debt.
Perhaps the simplest way to get rid of debt is to stop accumulating it in the first place.
As tempting as it may be to overspend in shopping malls and markets during the holiday season in the UAE, cardholders should endeavour to make sure that they do not go over their budget.
An alternative to this is to begin saving up for the holiday season in advance so that there will be less need to rely on credit cards.
Cardholders could also buy their gifts early to avoid the rise in prices that tends to occur in the UAE during the holiday season.
