With industry statistics predicting that we will spend an extra £11 billion on the festive period this year - including presents, decorations and food - the Christmas period can be a costly time of year.

With Christmas Day alone costing the average household around £975, the thought of debt in the New Year can be rather the scary one.

As Christmas is costly, many people turn to borrowing and getting credit cards in order to help get through the festive period. Getting credit has become easier in recent times, a wide selection of companies now advertise through a variety of different media - from television adverts, posters in your local supermarket and even your e-mail inbox.

However, it can be easier to get into debt than to get credit, but there are steps you can take to ensure you can secure some extra cash to help you afford Christmas and avoid tumbling head-over-heels into the debt trap.

• Think twice about taking out a bigger mortgage to release some equity in your home. Such a method can aid borrowing over a long period of time, but isn't considered a good idea with regards to short-term debt due to the risk of paying a lot more interest over your mortgage term.
• Consider switching your current account to one with a lower overdraft rate in order to free up some extra cash flow and to allow for some piece of mind if you need to dip into your overdraft in order to prepare for Christmas.
• There are now a wide variety of credit cards that offer 0% deals, allowing you to put some presents onto a service that can be paid off at a later date. As long as you can afford to pay off the debt before the interest-free period runs out it can be a useful addition to your wallet for the festive season.
• Another option for the holidays is a personal loan. These work like mortgages, allowing the opportunity to pay a fixed amount each month, without having the loan secured against your property. You can usually borrow between £1,000 and £10,000 over different periods of time, and repayments are fixed amounts and have a rigid payment schedule - however some companies are now offering customers the chance of more flexible payments in an effort to pay off the debt quicker and save on interest.

Article Source: http://www.ArticleBlast.com