Consolidated Credit Counselling Services of Canada has some tips on how Canadians can recover financially from the holidays.

Executive Director Jeff Schwartz says one great way to wean yourself off credit cards is figuring out how much money you need to get through the week and use only cash.

"I've seen people take out cash and say 'OK I'm going to put it in this envelope for this particular expense' and do that across the board and once they've finished with the cash in the envelopes they have no more to spend," Schwartz says. "That same idea can be translated into more advanced technology than using envelopes but at the same time the idea is the same, is that we're spending what we have and we're living with-in our means."

He says other ways to save include "hibernating" for the next couple months to make up for all the nights out and entertainment during the Christmas season, and only buy what you really need not what you want.

Ten percent of our total income goes to food according the Statistics Canada and while food is a necessity, Schwartz says treating ourselves isn't.

"We done necessarily have to shop at the most expensive grocery stores, we don't necessarily need to be buying the most expensive food items to get all the food items we need, we need to be smart about it, we need to go into the grocery market with s list and even come in with a meal plan for the next week," he says.

He says making these budget cuts will save enough money to pay down holiday debt by April and give enough momentum to continue throughout the year paying down other long term debt.

Schwartz says his real concern is that people will still be in debt when next Christmas rolls around.