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Still paying off last year’s holiday debt? Here’s what to do now.
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The holidays are a time of giving, but for many, they also come with additional financial strain. This year, holiday spending is expected to increase to an average of $1,638 per shopper, according to the results of PWC’s Holiday Outlook survey — an increase of 7% compared to 2023 and 15% compared to 2022. And, chances are that at least some shoppers will be relying on credit cards to cover some or all of that spending.
Using your credit cards to cover your holiday spending can be a risky route to take given that today’s average credit card interest rates are sitting at a record high of over 23%. At that rate, any balance you carry from one month to the next can balloon out of control quickly. But any holiday spending you do in the coming weeks can become even more problematic if you haven’t paid off last year’s holiday credit card debt yet. The interest charges alone can make it tough to get rid of your balance, especially if you’re adding to it with more holiday spending this year.
The good news? You don’t have to let last year’s credit card debt continue to derail your financial goals. There are several proven methods you can use to reduce interest costs and accelerate your credit card debt payoff instead. And, with strategic planning and the right tools, you can expedite the credit card debt repayment process and reclaim your financial peace of mind.
Find out what the best debt relief strategies are for you now.
How to pay off last year’s holiday debt
If you’re struggling to get rid of last year’s holiday debt right now, the strategies outlined below can help you tackle those lingering balances.
Transfer your balances to a card with a 0% APR offer
One of the most effective ways to tackle holiday credit card debt is through a balance transfer credit card. These cards typically offer 0% APR introductory periods lasting anywhere from 12 to 21 months, providing valuable time to pay down your debt without accruing additional interest. While most balance transfers involve a fee of 3% to 5% of the transferred amount, the savings in interest charges often far outweigh this cost.
Keep in mind, though, that these offers typically require good to excellent credit for approval. It’s also important to create a payment plan that ensures you’ll clear the balance before the promotional period ends. But if you can come up with the right plan and qualify for the right balance transfer offer, this strategy could pay off in multiple ways.
Start getting rid of your credit card debt today.
Consolidate your debt with a lower-rate loan
For those juggling multiple credit card debts from last holiday season, a debt consolidation loan can simplify repayment and lower your overall costs. With debt consolidation, you’re typically able to combine multiple credit card balances into a single loan, which typically comes with a much lower rate than you have on your credit cards.
Because most debt consolidation loans often have lower rates than credit cards, this approach can save you money and reduce your repayment timeline. And unlike credit cards with variable rates, a debt consolidation loan’s rate remains stable throughout the repayment period, providing peace of mind and consistency in your debt repayment journey.
Explore what debt management plans can offer
If you’re struggling to make progress on your debt due to high interest rates or financial hardship, a debt management plan might be the solution. Offered by credit counseling agencies, these plans work to consolidate your debts into a single monthly payment. The agency also negotiates with your creditors to lower your interest rates or waive certain fees, making it easier to pay off your balances.
While these plans typically require a small monthly fee, the savings in interest can be substantial. The structured repayment plan can also help you stay on track, which could come in handy in terms of expediting the process.
Take the debt snowball or avalanche approach
The debt snowball method offers a psychological boost to debt repayment by focusing on quick wins. This approach involves listing all holiday-related credit card debts from smallest to largest balance, regardless of interest rates. You maintain minimum payments on all cards but direct any extra money toward the smallest balance until it’s paid off. You then roll that payment into tackling the next smallest debt. This strategy builds momentum through visible progress, helping you stay motivated.
The debt avalanche method, on the other hand, takes a more mathematical approach. Similar to the snowball method in structure, this strategy prioritizes debts by interest rate rather than balance. By targeting the highest-rate debt first while maintaining minimum payments on others, you’ll save the most money in interest charges over time. While this approach may take longer to see visible progress, it provides the greatest financial benefit in the long run.
The bottom line
Holiday debt can feel overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be a permanent fixture in your financial life. By adopting a focused repayment strategy, exploring tools like debt consolidation or balance transfers and making small sacrifices in your budget, you can significantly accelerate your debt payoff journey. The sooner you eliminate last year’s holiday balances, the sooner you’ll free up funds for your future financial goals — and maybe even enjoy a debt-free holiday season this year.
CBS News
Rex Heuermann, alleged Long Island serial killer, due in court as prosecutors promise major development
RIVERHEAD, N.Y. – Accused Gilgo Beach serial killer Rex Heuermann is due back in court on Long Island Tuesday morning, and prosecutors are promising a major development in the case.
The hearing is set to begin after 9:30 a.m. A press conference is expected at the Suffolk County DA’s office shortly after. We will bring that news conference to you live on CBS News New York.
The judge has previously indicated he wanted to set a trial date at today’s hearing.
Heuermann’s last court appearance was back in October.
Heuermann accused of killing 6 women, so far
Heuermann, 61, has pleaded not guilty to murder charges in the deaths of six women between 1993 and 2011. The remains of 11 people were discovered around Gilgo Beach during that period, and investigators believe Heuermann may be linked to other killings. The Suffolk County DA has said there could be future indictments.
Four of the victims had their bodies disposed of near Gilgo Beach. Two others were murdered as far back as 2003 and 1993. Each of them had been involved in sex work.
Prosecutors allege Heuermann is linked to the murders through DNA, burner phone data, a description of his truck, internet searches and what they call a blueprint for how to get away with murder.
Attorneys wrangle over DNA, volume of evidence
A key point of contention in the new DNA evidence is called SNP, which prosecutors say links the hairs of victims to Heuermann. The defense has called an outside lab’s methods of genetic testing unproven and “magic.”
Another hurdle for prosecutors is the sheer volume of evidence. The DA says they’re struggling to keep up with the costs of processing the 120 terabytes of data and 400 electronic devices seized.
Heuermann’s attorney says his client is looking forward to his day in court and will be pursuing a change of venue, claiming the jury pool in Suffolk has been “poisoned.”
Heuermann remains in isolation in jail.
CBS News
Osiel Cárdenas Guillén — notorious drug lord nicknamed “Friend Killer” — returned to Mexico after U.S. prison sentence
Notorious drug lord Osiel Cárdenas Guillén has been returned to Mexico after serving a U.S. sentence and was quickly re-arrested and sent to a maximum security prison to face Mexican charges.
There had been nervousness about the impending return of Cárdenas Guillén, who once led the feared Gulf cartel in northeastern Mexico before he was arrested and extradited to the United States in 2007.
The U.S. Homeland Security Department confirmed in its social media accounts Monday that Cárdenas Guillén had been returned after serving 14 years in U.S. custody, most of his 25-year U.S. prison sentence. He is a Mexican citizen, so presumably he was deported.
“The successful removal of Osiel Cardenas, a notorious international fugitive, underscores our unwavering commitment to public safety and justice,” said Enforcement and Removal Operations Chicago Field Office Director Samuel Olson in a statement.
A Mexican federal official who was not authorized to be quoted by name said Cárdenas Guillén had immediately been taken into custody in Mexico on drug, organized crime and money-laundering charges.
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement/Handout via REUTERS
The official said Cárdenas Guillén was being held at the country’s top maximum-security Altiplano prison just west of Mexico City.
Homeland Security Investigations posted photos of a paunchy, balding, bespectacled Cárdenas Guillén being escorted by two officers in helmets and flak vests, and the being walked over a border bridge.
The image contrasts with the drug lord’s fearsome reputation for violence in Mexico.
Nicknamed “El Mata Amigos” (“Friend Killer”), he recruited former Mexican special forces soldiers to form his personal guard. The former head of the Gulf cartel was known for his brutality. He created the most bloodthirsty gang of hitmen Mexico has ever known, the Zetas, which routinely slaughtered migrants and innocent people.
The 57-year-old native of the border city of Matamoros, Mexico, moved tons of cocaine and made millions of dollars through the Gulf cartel, based in the border cities of Reynosa and Matamoros.
After his arrest in the northeast border state of Tamaulipas, he was extradited in 2007 to the United States, where he was sentenced in 2010 to 25 years in prison and ordered to pay $50 million.
At that time, the Justice Department alleged that Cardenas Guillen threatened to kill a Texas sheriff’s deputy who was working as an undercover ICE agent because he refused to deliver almost 1,000 kilograms of marijuana.
CBS News
The Electoral College votes to confirm results for the 2024 presidential election today. Here’s what to know.
At state capitols across the U.S. Tuesday, the presidential electors will be gathering to cast their electoral votes, formalizing President-elect Donald Trump’s victory over Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 election.
It’s largely a ceremonial vote, the next step after the presidential election. When Americans cast their ballots on Election Day, they’re technically voting for a slate electors committed to supporting their choice for president and vice president.
How does the Electoral College work?
The rules governing the Electoral College are outlined by the 12th Amendment.
Presidential electors, according to the amendment, “shall name in their ballots the person voted for as President, and in distinct ballots the person voted for as Vice-President, and they shall make distinct lists of all persons voted for as President, and of all persons voted for as Vice-President, and of the number of votes for each, which lists they shall sign and certify.”
The political parties choose the slate of electors ahead of the general election.
After Election Day, all the votes are counted and then certified by each state. According to the 2022 Electoral Count Reform Act, the deadline to certify the results is set at six days before the electors are scheduled to meet, traditionally on the first Tuesday after the second Wednesday in December.
The Electoral Count Reform Act of 2022 also requires that each state determine a state official — the governor unless specified otherwise — to be responsible for submitting the “certificate of ascertainment” that identifies the state’s electors and includes a security feature.
What were the 2024 Electoral College results?
Trump won 312 Electoral College votes to Harris’ 226. See state-by-state results here and below.
Nationally, Trump also won the popular vote, winning 77.2 million votes to Harris’ 75 million.
How many electoral votes does each state have?
The Electoral College consists of 538 electors, and a majority of 270 is needed to become president.
Each state’s electoral votes are equal to the number of representatives they have in the House, plus two senators.
While the number of Electoral College votes has remained at 538 since 1964, the number of votes per state changes to match congressional apportionment after the decennial census. Between the 2020 election and the 2024 election, Texas gained two Electoral College votes, while five other states — Colorado, Florida, Montana, North Carolina and Oregon — gained one electoral vote each. Six states lost an electoral vote: California, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.
The map below shows the changes by state between the 2020 election and the 2024 election.
Does each elector have to vote with the state election results?
Forty-eight states and Washington, D.C., are winner-take-all, so the winner of the popular vote in the state wins all of the state’s electoral votes. Maine and Nebraska allocate their electors based on the winner of the popular vote within each Congressional District and then two “at-large” electors are determined based on winner of the statewide popular vote.
The electors are supposed to vote in accordance with the outcome of the popular vote in their state. The Constitution does not require electors to vote with the winner of the popular vote, but most states have laws that nullify the votes of “faithless electors.” The Supreme Court ruled in 2020 that states can punish these “faithless electors.”
According to FairVote, there have been 90 “deviant” votes cast by electors for president since the founding of the Electoral College, although the majority of these were due to the death of a party’s nominee rather than a true deviation from the voters’ intent.
There have also been 75 faithless electors for vice president, for a total of 165 faithless electors throughout history, according to FairVote.
After the 2020 election, so-called “fake” Republican electors in seven battleground states won by President Biden met anyway and cast phony votes for Trump. State criminal charges have been filed against fake electors in Georgia, Michigan and Nevada. In charging Trump for attempting the overturn the election results, special counsel Jack Smith said these fake electors were part of a plan to overturn the election, orchestrated by pro-Trump attorneys with Trump’s support. Those charges have been dismissed since Trump’s victory in the 2024 election.
What’s next after the Electoral College certification?
After the results are signed and certified, they are sent to Harris, acting as the president of the Senate. The vote certificates must be received by the fourth Wednesday in December, which this year is Dec. 25. The archivist then transmits the sets of certificates to Congress on or before the new Congress meets on Jan. 3, 2025.
On Jan. 6, 2025, Congress meets in a joint session to count the Electoral College votes, overseen by Harris. After the votes are counted, the vice president announces the winner of the election.
Trump and Vice President-elect JD Vance will take the oath of office at the inauguration at noon on Jan. 20, 2025.
Rex Heuermann, alleged Long Island serial killer, due in court as prosecutors promise major development
Osiel Cárdenas Guillén — notorious drug lord nicknamed “Friend Killer” — returned to Mexico after U.S. prison sentence
The Electoral College votes to confirm results for the 2024 presidential election today. Here’s what to know.
Rex Heuermann, alleged Long Island serial killer, due in court as prosecutors promise major development
Osiel Cárdenas Guillén — notorious drug lord nicknamed “Friend Killer” — returned to Mexico after U.S. prison sentence