If you've spent more than your budget can cope with, then maybe you're thinking about credit to help you through January. Many people fear the long, broke month of January. After a lovely Christmas full of joyous smiles January can see a mood swing in the wrong direction. Many of us turn to credit cards to help get through this terrible month. But without knowledge of the financial industry a person without a great income can fall victim to the evil grip of unscrupulous credit companies.

In his newspaper article, Simon Bain of the Herald tells of how one particular bank has been sending credit card applications to people with offers of a credit card with APR of up to 69% (http://www.theherald.co.uk/business/52784.html). This astounding rate applies with a credit limit of '150, while an APR of 41% applies to a credit limit of '1500.

Quick additional sums of money may seem very tempting to people at this time of year, and without consideration a lot of people will be more than tempted. But it's not until later that the repercussions of such a high interest hit home. This can lead to difficulties in February, which spill over into March 'and so on, until before you know it it's Christmas again and you have serious problems.

So before you go looking for short-term solutions that could lead to long-term problems, take some time to consider your options so that you can decide what kind of year you're going to have.

There are many cheap and easy ways to get credit card advice this New Year. The best way is just to log on to the web. There are many sites out there dedicated to offering financial advice. One of these sites is http://Moneynet.co.uk. Here you can check out all of your options. There is a great page dedicated solely to providing credit card advice ( http://www.moneynet.co.uk/credit-card-guide/index.shtml ) as well as many pages advising the card with best introductory rate, the best standard rate etc.

So, before you go down the wrong road, check out what your options are this January, and make sure you truly do have a happy New Year.