The holiday spending hangover

Editor’s note: This article first appeared in Money Matters, a newsletter from Britannica Money, on February 25, 2026.

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This little piggy needs a refill.

© New Africa, diy13/stock.adobe.com; Photo illustration Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

By February, the holidays are long gone, but for many of us, the bill is still very much here.

The season that just wrapped up was a big one. According to the National Retail Federation, U.S. holiday retail sales topped $1 trillion for the first time, with consumers having spent about $890 per person on holiday-related purchases.

What follows the holidays is quieter—and familiar. Balances linger. Statements arrive. And at some point, the question stops being whether to pay down debt and becomes much more practical: Where do I start?

Two classic strategies offer very different answers: the snowball and the avalanche.

First things first: with any debt strategy, you keep making every required payment—mortgage, auto loan, student debt, and so on. Strategies such as the snowball or avalanche only apply to how you use the extra money.

Let’s put some real numbers on it. Say you’re carrying four debts:

With the snowball method, you put your extra money toward the smallest balance—the loan from your sister. (Interest saved? Zero. Family harmony? Priceless.) Once her debt is paid off, you roll that payment into the next-smallest balance—the department store card—and repeat until they’re all paid off. The snowball method isn’t about efficiency; it’s about momentum. One balance gone means fewer bills, fewer due dates, and visible progress early on.

The avalanche method flips that logic. You start with the highest interest rate debt—the Mastercard—despite its size. When the balance is paid off, you move to the department store card. From a math perspective, the avalanche will cost less over time, because you’re eliminating the most expensive debt first—the one with the 25%+ interest rate.

As for your sister, she’ll hopefully understand. She wants you to become debt free in the quickest and most efficient way, so you don’t have to go to the well again next year.

Multiple balances, multiple rates, and a payoff timeline that stretches far enough into the future can be paralyzing. When everything feels urgent, it’s easy to do nothing at all.

That’s where the snowball method earns its reputation. Paying off one balance—even a small one—shrinks the problem. The mental load is lighter. The process feels manageable. Four debt piles become three, then two, and next thing you know, you’re debt free.

If you’re like me, however, you’d rather tackle the most expensive debt first. Watching interest charges fall as quickly as possible can be a huge and empowering motivator. It’s the avalanche method for me.

But neither approach is more disciplined or more “correct.” They’re just different paths to peace of mind. The better choice is the one that helps you keep moving when winter makes everything feel slower and heavier.

If you want to turn intention into action, keep it simple:

Debt—like winter snow—rarely disappears all at once. It melts, slowly at first, then faster. Winter won’t last forever. But the progress you start now can carry well into spring.