{"id":201547,"date":"2026-01-14T09:42:28","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T14:42:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/?p=201547"},"modified":"2026-01-14T09:42:53","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T14:42:53","slug":"guest-column-reseting-finances-in-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/2026\/01\/14\/guest-column-reseting-finances-in-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Guest column: Reseting finances"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>By Jamie Crawford<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>COLUMBUS &#8212; With the holidays officially over, it\u2019s a matter of time until credit card bills from last month\u2019s spending find their way into Ohioans\u2019 mailboxes. While many individuals may be tempted to quickly set those bills aside, the\u00a0Ohio Department of Commerce\u00a0Division of Financial Institutions (DFI)\u00a0encourages everyone to slow down, review statements for any questionable charges, and consider how they might keep their financial goals on track in 2026.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to a recent report, the\u00a0average credit card balance\u00a0per consumer now stands at $6,523, which is up 2.2 percent year over year. If that sounds like you, the Division recommends taking the following steps:\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Negotiate a lower interest rate.\u00a0Call your credit card company and highlight your history of on-time payments or mention competitive offers from other lenders. Even a small reduction can save you money over time.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Try a low-spend month.\u00a0Commit to spending money only on essentials, such as housing, transportation, and groceries, for 30 days. This can be an effective way to offset holiday costs and reset your spending habits.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Create a debt payoff plan.\u00a0Don\u2019t panic if you can\u2019t pay everything off immediately. Instead, develop a realistic plan to tackle your debt as quickly as possible \u2013 and stick to it.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAll of us want to start the year feeling confident about our finances,\u201d said Division Superintendent Kevin Allard. \u201cTaking time now to review your financial situation and make some changes can help you set the stage for a stronger financial future this year and beyond.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This is also a good time to thoroughly review your credit card statements to ensure there aren\u2019t any unusual or strange charges. If you discover such charges, you should take the following steps: Lock or cancel your card; report the charge to your card issuer; update your online accounts including passwords; review other recent transactions and accounts;\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/urldefense.proofpoint.com\/v2\/url?u=https-3A__u36632242.ct.sendgrid.net_ls_click-3Fupn-3Du001.Alvp-2D2BpzYTQ-2D2BckF-2D2FqPZDgy43y8mE1v4iYIEggDXP3AeQKe6hkgaljZ9IufREperu1h2M7-5FpIbxPfpDI69aAybPrpOfg13-2D2BnRq9m1GIM7tuH7cFM0nEfbYl-2D2FmSTl0Gh1qvrOwJaQQoCyyYAZLndF7rMTExMKyEeKqqDbEEXLQipupIDAz3F0-2D2FiULwce65FEIgFpLgBVJ3HelGo1eLDoHdkRevPHvhbDApWWG-2D2FOWhSHs0FR7I-2D2FgeBMsH7DHRPdMPA3-2D2FXyETi9S5cgYFzdozjGYU5xKCiccTxP9I35ONA-2D2F2pTd0q-2D2FHEK6N-2D2BpRmmTCnW9-2D2FGK1oj1-2D2FohJn3YuMh-2D2BAsDKddqFB-2D2B26EFwiieiaYNsoj2Thi27ZiHYKZSr5BGGCLFwPMYDAP4r56OhH3h0CAOpkG6WtqK6xx99kDUvP6JHX0ydCCLrmkA-2D3D&amp;d=DwMFAg&amp;c=euGZstcaTDllvimEN8b7jXrwqOf-v5A_CdpgnVfiiMM&amp;r=FC13PzDbVZ8qhVsUeHYgLJLYUVcrkfTA5q3JvQduqoI&amp;m=qXIyy_VLP1C7KnFuvvgGLmYlfbopXA4j12p-5hpvqO8phN8QP3taV1UJn1pD4NuV&amp;s=yZU9L7FJofuzgiyU_1uvqzxcAouIDZ912DfymXb3m7M&amp;e=\">file a report<\/a>\u00a0with the FTC; and consider filing a police report since some banks and credit bureaus may require that in the event of large losses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For more information and resources on financial health, fraud prevention, and credit improvement, visit the Division\u2019s Office of Consumer Affairs website at&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/urldefense.proofpoint.com\/v2\/url?u=https-3A__u36632242.ct.sendgrid.net_ls_click-3Fupn-3Du001.Alvp-2D2BpzYTQ-2D2BckF-2D2FqPZDgyz-2D2FA3Rx-2D2BdMqmCvXOeUqLJ-2D2B9GManVSCi-2D2FtwYZSU8xY6tNbX3hsvjWDwCwc6ITZe1jWBpMVDGs9YZvvifkaDJoi6bJ6HVdtFEDfz8aVOfkp5GsBFds-5FpIbxPfpDI69aAybPrpOfg13-2D2BnRq9m1GIM7tuH7cFM0nEfbYl-2D2FmSTl0Gh1qvrOwJaQQoCyyYAZLndF7rMTExMKyEeKqqDbEEXLQipupIDAz3F0-2D2FiULwce65FEIgFpLgBVJ3HelGo1eLDoHdkRevPHvhbDApWWG-2D2FOWhSHs0FR7I-2D2FgeBMsH7DHRPdMPA3-2D2FXyETiR8AKrVOg0BpQo4vxTRuUjwbgAe-2D2FXbJmwQX7CHC-2D2FOEfyRJ2x6ilHLn-2D2BoTZG4NqUSbWD5fhXxKfSFKFunXftidI5jfgLkDoOM0475I69BIzK0OigH-2D2ByvVxIah-2D2Bf3aYS4RajqbQm2MqX9AYuORFZsEXqya8K0bO7sLqP3gqwwB4jAk-2D3D&amp;d=DwMFAg&amp;c=euGZstcaTDllvimEN8b7jXrwqOf-v5A_CdpgnVfiiMM&amp;r=FC13PzDbVZ8qhVsUeHYgLJLYUVcrkfTA5q3JvQduqoI&amp;m=qXIyy_VLP1C7KnFuvvgGLmYlfbopXA4j12p-5hpvqO8phN8QP3taV1UJn1pD4NuV&amp;s=SNiJhH4Y48Urg8tUI_3-TxUppWDyZGe-a07y5lAzse0&amp;e=\">com.ohio.gov\/OCA<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Jamie Crawford COLUMBUS &#8212; With the holidays officially over, it\u2019s a matter of time until credit card bills from last month\u2019s spending find their way into Ohioans\u2019 mailboxes. While many individuals may be tempted to quickly set those bills aside, the\u00a0Ohio Department of Commerce\u00a0Division of Financial Institutions (DFI)\u00a0encourages everyone to slow down, review statements [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[72],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-201547","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-opinions"],"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-04-11 11:32:53","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201547","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=201547"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201547\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":201549,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/201547\/revisions\/201549"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=201547"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=201547"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thevwindependent.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=201547"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}