Tuesday Tip | There are 42 weeks until Christmas.
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I know Christmas is a weird thing to think about in March.
But if you start doing something now to prepare for the holidays, you could save yourself a lot of financial stress in December. And January. 😉
My primary recommendation: Start a Christmas/holiday savings account and add $10/week. Do that from now thru Christmas and you will have $420* plus a little interest.
Ten dollars a week is pretty painless, and having a stash of Christmas cash in December is fantastic.
If $10 a week feels hard to find (been there!), you could:
- Open a Swagbucks account or dust off your current one. You have plenty of time to earn a gift card or two before Christmas.
- Sell some of your clutter on Facebook marketplace or eBay, and put the proceeds in your Christmas account.
- Eat meatless once or twice a week and put the grocery savings in your account.
- Have a freezer or pantry challenge and set aside the saved money.
- Try to catch yourself when you consider an unnecessary purchase. Stop and ask yourself if you'd rather save that money for Christmas. If the answer is yes, deposit that amount into the Christmas account.
- Find a bill that you can cut or eliminate, then funnel that money to the Christmas account. (Could you trim an entertainment bill? Could you switch cell phone services to something like Ting (which we love!)? )
Readers, do you have a suggestion to help others save up for Christmas?
*I do realize that $420 will probably not cover most people's Christmas expenses entirely. But it will certainly help, and it is definitely better than having $0.
What works bet for me is to try to pick up items all year round. Yes, I still set $$ aside for the holiday. Target is known for it's Toy Clearance right around 4th of July. They slash prices on toys that won't be the "HOT" item that year. When you have little ones, they won't know the difference. Also, after any holiday many "stocking stuffers" items can be picked up. After Valentines Day I got some chap stick (that my girls like) for dirt cheap. There was no heart design on the package or item. Best to keep a running list of items that you have purchased and
also items to keep an eye out for. I know that this may not work of everyone, but for myself it works.
I shop all year 'round as well! I keep an eye on deal blogs/sites like MoneySavingMom and Brad's Deals and I snag items up when it's a great Christmas present.
Me three! I don't buy the "main" gift, typically, but I will get smaller items. When my kids were in elementary school, I would shop at this time of year for hats/mittens and that was an easy (and practical--we live in Michigan) gift to give. I will look for socks, shirts, books, puzzles ... also, I like to look for unusual items (perhaps at local gift stores or craft fairs) as I find it fun to give something unique which fits the person.
I do this also, both buying ahead and buying right after the holiday, which is why I joke about becoming an Orthodox Christian as a frugal measure. It's critically important to know where you put the things you buy.
I too start early in the year so I keep a spreadsheet listing all the gifts I have purchased and purchase amounts so I don't forget something I bought earlier in the year. I also note in the spreadsheet any time I hear someone say something they might like or any gift ideas that I come up with so I can purchase things that are desirable and/or useful to the recipient.
We keep a "Christmas Cash" envelope and put small bills into it throughout the year, starting about now. We typically put about $10 in per week (some weeks more, some less) and it's nice to have about $400 in extra cash either for presents or sometimes we use it to buy tickets for a holiday performance or for fancy food items
My mother belonged to a "Christmas Club" at her local bank, all her life. I'm not sure just how it worked but that was her Christmas money and she didn't use more. She no longer would have had to have that way of having Christmas money, but she enjoyed the ritual.
Back in the early '90s I had a Christmas Club account at a bank near my job. I loved the ritual of walking over there at lunchtime, depositing a check or cash, and getting my passbook stamped. These days I transfer money online from checking to savings...somehow it's not quite as satisfying as that long-ago ritual!
I also pick up items all year long when they are on clearance or at a thrift shop. (even if the toy is too old for my kids, I put it away for later). I do have tons of storage space in my house (which I am thankful for) so its easy for me to just put it aside. I did learn my lesson the hard way about not writing down what you buy throughout the year when I realized I had WAY TOO MUCH for my kids last year. So back in the closet they went for next year and I now keep my running list.
I've minimized Christmas. I don't buy my wife and kid extravagant items and my family have been scaled back as well.
Me too! Every holiday, I vow to make things a little bit simpler than the last. I have found that most friends and extended family are relieved when you say, "Want to just get together and have a meal and skip the gifts?" And what I do buy for my limited gift list, I pick up on sale through the year. Boom. Done.
I like how simple you made that sound......as in simple enough for me to try it, thanks!
I find that stocking stuffers for my peeps can add up! So I, too, shop Target's end aisles for things that I can use for that. My peeps are grown, but they still love the variety of things I find: personal care items, things for their car or apartment, things for their desk.etc. Its fun to spend the time thinking about it versus the crush of Christmas with its stress. I have an unused savings account at the credit union where I had to open an account to apply to refi our mortgage. I could also set aside monies for big things - I think I will do just that!
Our local Target has sample giveaways on Sunday afternoons. I have pick up personal care items (hand lotion, shampoo,facial masks etc...) to make up a basket for holidays.
Our family (for the adults) pick a name out of the hat and you only have to purchase for one person. We set a $$ amount, email wish lists. It has cut back on having to buy a gift for all.
I personally make up a "freebie basket" for the person that I have that year. Any samples that I
get for the year (from personal items to laundry & pens ) go in there. Nice extra surprise!
Also we pick the names for the coming year when we get together & celebrate the holiday, so
we all know who we have for the year. It does make it nice & I have picked up items when on vacation to give. Especially when the items is something that I know they will like & it is something that they can't get where we live.
I've found this is a good time of year to start talking if you'd like to make some changes to the way you celebrate. For example, if you'd like to start buying just for the kids or putting a limit on how much you spend now is a low pressure time to sound out the rest of the family. There are 42 weeks to haggle on the details. In my experience Thanksgiving is not a good time to do this!
My strategy is to deposit the money once a week, no matter how much. My day is Thursday. Make it a habit and put anything extra in there such as cheques from Ebates/Caddle/Checkout 51, money from returning your empty bottles, found money in the dryer/car/couch, etc. I keep a jar (important because it makes the clinking sound) beside my computer and at the end of the day my change goes inside. Last year I saved $6,000 using this strategy.
Jenni, I do the same thing. Any found money (from pennies on the street to a nice, big bonus at my job) goes into savings. Anytime I buy something at a discount, or with a coupon, I calculate what I saved, and into savings it goes. Anytime I plan to spend money, but don't (for example, being treated for lunch when I fully intended to pay), I calculate what I would have spent, and into savings it goes. It really does add up!
I stsrted a xmas account at my credit union in December. I have $70 month put away. I am going to increase that amount today. It will be nice to have that money Nov 15.
I normally make small gifts to exchange with family, $420 is way more than we use for gifts, even with 9 grandchildren! I work at the gifts all year long and my goal is to be finished before Thanksgiving.
My goal is to stay out of stores as much as possible in December. I even try do any grocery shopping as early in the day as possible, even if it means being there when Aldi's opens!
I don't know that this saves money, but I take my family to a very nice dinner sometime in the Christmas/New Year's time frame. We get to visit, have some pampering, and I don't stress about what to buy.
I also have a Christmas Club account at my credit union. Every payday I have $25 transferred to it automatically, then on November 1st, it gets transferred back to my checking account. I get paid every other week so that's $650 for Christmas which covers almost everything (including holiday meals, events, etc.) for me. I do occasionally pick up a few things throughout the year and just use my regular gift budget for those things.
Now is the time to talk to folks about cutting out the gifts! My extended family stopped exchanging years ago- we get together and play a dice game for gifts Christmas Eve. Everyone brings a few items (they can be used) and if you throw doubles, you can choose a gift from the stash or take one from someone. No stress and lots of fun. I gift my 3 kids, spouses and 4 grands cash to buy or save. No one has ever complained.
We play this game too and our families love it. It has gotten a little out of control but we all try to find things that we know will get used. We have a small twist, there is one gift that comes back every year (a dancing/singing monkey) and whoever rolls the last doubles takes it home for the year.
We usually save all of our change all year, and when we’re ready to shop for Christmas, cash in our change for an amazon gift card at coin star. We easily end up with $250, at least. We also keep gifts simple and don’t have a ton of people to shop for, so this method works for us.
I used to have a Christmas Club at my bank, but they don't do that anymore. If you paid in the full amount you selected, they gave you a bonus of an extra week's payment, so if you pledged to save $10 a week and had 500 in there by the middle of December (they always did it for 50 weeks), then they gave you an extra $10. I wish they still did that.
I do both setting aside money and shopping through the year. My problem with shopping through the year is that some people will have bought it themselves or received it as a birthday gift by Christmas time, so I can't get everything ahead, or I risk trying in November to return a clearance item I bought in April, then have to find a replacement for it on short notice. I try to watch for small items, but for the main gift, we send each other a "want" list around August. It still gives us some time to maybe catch some sales. I've reduced my shopping, too. I no longer shop for friends, and they no longer shop for us, which was mutually and happily agreed upon, and, as I age, the older generation (parents, close aunts/uncles, older siblings, etc.) are passing on, so obviously, less shopping there, for a sad reason.
I do keep a list of what I've bought and for whom, or I can overdo it on one and forget another!
I almost never have cash on me anymore, so saving my extra change or bills isn't going to garner much, but I like the idea of using things like yard sale proceeds, and any extra money that comes in, to help fund my Christmas. Right now, with our medical bills, we need pretty much every penny, but I hope that I can still "find" money here and there to help me save for this coming Christmas.
I can get gift cards for stores that I use at 10% off using my credit card rebates (we pay off the card every month). Then I use the gifts cards as gifts or use to buy gifts. We did "paper or plastic" last year because many family members were flying so gift cards or regards. Buy gifts all year for my birthday stash and yes some are new items from thrift stores or unique or antique items that I know my family or friends would enjoy. And I make gifts like a batch of gluten free biscotti for my son-in-law with a bag of coffee.
I generally feel that many gifts given during Christmas end up getting wasted. My in-laws give lots of gifts for Christmas. Although sad, we typically donate most of them, as they are not things we need or would use. I generally give money or gift cards, unless someone asked for something specifically. Although it may cost more, at least the presents I give do not get wasted (which is a waste of money, time, and not good for the environment).
I hate the feeling that what I am giving will be wasted so I tend to give a lot of consumables - movie tickets and gift cards, specialty foods and drinks I am sure they will enjoy. With a few of my friends, we have decided to do something special like take a class together or go on a day trip - something we wouldn't ordinarily do - for birthdays and holidays. That way, the time together and the memories are the gift.
Here are a few tips;
1) buy as much as you can for next year now. I was looking at Mikasa online and it was filled with xmas deals on figurines, candlesticks, ornaments, all at cut-rate prices. So go against the spring bloom flow and stock up on cards, decorations, and holiday themed items, now (while no one else is interested)
2) start knitting those xmas blankets and scarves now, rather than in august when the yarn gets sweaty
3) if you did a bad job putting away xmas this year? take time while you're still snowed in to organize your box of wrapping paper, ribbon, holiday movies and music, the manger scene, lights and decorations
I like your point about organizing the stuff. I can tell when I get things out in the winter how I was feeling when I put the decorations away the season before, by how carefully they were packed up. It is also easier to go through and choose things to get rid of now, including the things that never make it out on display because you like other things better.
At our local Christmas craft show at the fairgrounds, there is always one HUGE booth of assorted commercial Christmas merchandise, dishes, and decorations. I suspect the people who run it go around to yard sales and auctions all summer and cheaply buy the holiday items no one wants then, to re-sell them five months later when people are in the mood for it.
Love, love, love this! The best time to think about Christmas or any other large expense (emergencies included) is before it happens.
Personally, I save for Christmas all year using a cashback rewards card. It enables us to be generous during Christmas without destroying ourselves for the new year.
I also know people who Christmas shop all year round. The stores aren't crazy, and you can find just about anything! It's a great way to prep for holiday craziness without hurting your bank account. Maybe focus on finding a gift for one person each month; that makes it easier to think about.
... I've been adding stuff to my amazon wishlist, does that count?
We only regularly buy gifts for two folks these days. However, I set aside money every week of the year and whatever we don't use for gifts or cards or something like a work gift exchange, I use to buy fancy foods during the season. Normally I am quite restrained in food shopping, keeping to a budget, growing a lot of our food and preserving it for winter use, and feeding the husband things like soups a lot. However, by December I have saved enough money that I feel free to buy those expensive cheeses I normally don't even let my eyes linger on, or the best cuts of meat and those fancy crackers. If I didn't set aside money all year, I would not feel as free to indulge ourselves.
Make sure I have cherry pie filling, brownie making supplies. Splurge on some nuts. Make sure I have all the spices and ingredients for cookies. Cute tin or vintage plate. Wrapping papers where ever I find them are stored in chest of drawers. Wrap with fabric and cloth ribbons also. Always have scissors and tape. Dollar Tree has great hard cover books, tea, and Jan. Sales produce nice clothing items for next christmas.
My family and all my siblings families decided about six years ago that we did not want to exchange gifts at Christmas and that we would play bingo and buy bingo prizes instead. We usually have around 20 people that play and it is so fun. The gifts are not expensive, movie candy, $5 Starbucks gift card, coffee mug, bottle of wine. Everyone brings several gifts and we bring food and play bingo and have some fun family time. Way less stress and way more fun!
We try to keep Christmas gifts to things we really need. Our daughter is a student, so there’s always something she needs. Our Christmas shopping list is very short. We no longer exchange gifts with friends or my husband’s family (his family lives a few provinces away). With my family, we have really cut back. Now the cousins are almost all adults, they might have a fun gift exchange, but not always. One year we played bingo, everyone put in $20 and the winner gave the money to a charity of her/his choice. We will probably do that again.
This is such a great idea! $10 is doable for many people and if not, $5 works too!
Even if you're not spending a whole lot on presents, there are other holiday expenses at that time of year you could use that $420 for. Think special baking and meals, travel, fancier clothes that may be needed and extra room for giving! (There are usually extra opportunities to be generous around Christmastime.)
Other ideas to save:
Stash away any change you receive in a jar until December. (Think $5 or less)
Pick up a small job and save that money! (Mowing a neighbor's lawn, taking care of someone's pet while they're out of town, delivering papers, watching a kid or two after school.)
Start a Go-fund-me for Christmas expenses. (just kidding 😉 )
Wow, only 42 weeks, I’ll Never get ready in time! My wife collects gifts throughout the year. Usually by August she has got everything. But then she still sees those “perfect” gifts fir you know who. So she buys more. Then in December it is time to start wrapping - and we can’t find the gifts!! So now it is a mad rush to buy gifts and wrap them. Then she finds the lost gifts!! So they get put back for next year! We have enough lost gifts to last for years.
Oh to be organized like Kristen.
I often find new items at thrift shops. I will put them away and give a group of them for a gift. Everyone is wowed over with the gift collection that just cost me several dollars. They think I spent a lot of dollars of the gift collection. I always look for items that look new and with tags