The holidays typically leave you with at least two things: leftover fruit cakes and high-interest debt.

There is a better way though. We can transfer your debt to a home equity loan at a much lower interest rate, allowing you to pay off your debt faster and save money, without increasing your monthly payments.

Find out how… The holidays are many people’s favourite time of year in Canada, but all that holly and jolly doesn’t come cheap.

Between the food, the drinks, the gifts, and the traveling, it all adds up quickly – with the average Canadian spending over $1,800 this year and one-in-four are using their credit cards.

What’s more is that 3 out of five adults don’t save up throughout the year to pay for Christmas expenditures. That means they are likely putting the holidays on their credit card.

How to Clean Up Your Leftover Christmas Credit Card Debt

You basically have two, broad options:

1. Leave it on your card and pay it off slowly
2. Consolidate your debt into a lower interest loan

1 – Leave It On Your Credit Card and Pay it Off Slowly

We don’t generally recommend this option, as credit cards charge extremely high-interest rates. However, if your holiday purchases are the only thing on your credit card and you don’t have a very high balance, this might be best for you.

If you are going down this route, we have some information that might be of use to you:

• 10 Tips for Reducing Credit Card Debt
• 9 Tips to Repair and Protect Your Credit Score

If you are sitting on more credit card debt though, you should strongly consider the second option, as it can save you $1,000’s in interest payments…

2 – Consolidate Your Debt Into a Lower Interest Loan

Credit card debt represents the highest interest rates you can be stuck with. It is fine and dandy for small amounts but is a terrible way to carry sizable debt.

If you have sizable debts, you should consider a home equity loan for debt consolidation. Home equity loans carry much lower interest rates, allowing you to pay off your debt years sooner.

The chart below highlights the differences between credit cards and a home equity loan.

• If you are sitting on $30,000 in credit card debt, this will cost you almost $5,600 in interest payments in the first year. If you consolidate your debt, your interest payments would fall by almost 60%
• This allows you to put more money towards your principal and pay your debt down faster. By the end of year five, you have reduced your debt by 60% more, all without paying any extra per month
• It gets better though. Paying down your debt improves your credit, qualifying you for an even better loan. This would reduce your debt 75% faster

Okay, I’m Interested, How Do I Find Out More?

• Curious how much you can save? We offer free, customized debt consolidation options reports that describe how much you can save per year.
• If you want to know how our debt consolidation process works, just click here for an easy walk-through.
• If you would like to know more about the debt consolidation services we offer or would like to see some free educational content, check out our other articles on the topic here
• If you would like free, educational content on the subject of debt consolidation delivered to your email, you can sign-up here. You are free to unsubscribe at any time.

Of course, if you are sold on the idea, you can apply now. You are not under any obligation and will receive no charges, fees, etc.

Too soon? You can send in some basic information to find out what your options are by clicking here