Steven’s Tips: Pay down your post-holiday debt with points

Look, it’s Christmas. It can be so easy to spend more than we should. Guilt, social pressure, or just being a lovely human can all persuade us to pull out a credit card a little too much. But the New Year’s hangover will barely have lifted by the time you check your card balances, and you’re off to a swift and lousy start to 2023.

If you find yourself in this position, remember you have options, and points are one of them. Although I promote using these for cheap or free travel, many cards let you pay off credit card debt using your points.

While it’s not going to get you the best value for your points, it will help dig you out of debt, and trust me; no free flight is worth being in a financial hole. Not all cards allow this, but those that do typically value each point at one cent a piece. So if you have 70,000 points, you’ll effectively be able to write off $700 of your debt.

With that said, if you haven’t finished your shopping yet, just keep your limits in mind. And you’ll still have that bevy of points to carry you to the Caribbean in the new year.