Christmas stresses me out to the limit. One reason is money, I always worry we won't be able to afford everything for Christmas. So I came up with a solution that takes all the worry of not having enough money to cover everything at Christmas. I call it my savings boxes.
Dd got a set of boxes given one year and never used them. So I took them and labeled then. I have one for Christmas, which I put $20 a week in there. So that means I put $1,040 a year in there to spend on Christmas. I take money out of there whenever I buy something for Christmas. It also helps that I shop year round for Christmas.
I then set up a Birthday box. Again I put $20 a week in there. Now this pot takes a lot longer to work, as we have certain months of the year that have more birthdays in it than others. So for the first little while, I had to keep adding to the pot to cover the months when there were more birthdays then others. However three years later, I am finding that I always have money in that pot to cover every birthday.
I also have a special occasion pot where I put $10 a week into that. We have had a few special birthdays and anniversaries over the past couple of years, so this money was used for that.
I also put money into our ING account each week for our vacation fund.
Now this works for me, and its the first thing I do when I withdraw money from the bank each week, is put money into these pots. If you find those figures too high, why not start with $5 a week? To my mind even saving $100 towards Christmas is worthwhile.
Another simple way of saving money is whenever you do your banking always make sure the last three digits of your chequing account are all zero's. For example if you have $155.67 in your chequing account, transfer the $5.67 to whatever savings account you like so that you have $150.00 in your chequing account. You will be surprised how fast that little amount adds up!!! I know Lindsay mentioned yesterday she had managed to save up nearly one thousand pounds using this method.
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18 comments:
Great tips Gill. Happy New Year!
Whatever the details of a person's savings plan, you are the star example to show how doing something consistently adds up faster than you'd think. Good go!
We do Christmas for our kids and my mom, and that's it. Nothing fancy. We don't do Christmas for each other -- or birthdays. This past year has been such a downer with the economy and the idiot politicians wrecking the country, I'd happily do away with Christmas holiday all together next year. I don't know exactly what I'm going to do next year, but it's going to be different and even cheaper.
more fab ideas thank you !
Thanks for the link!
good ideas!
Happy New Year!
Josie x
Awesome Tips Gill!
Great ideas. We do much the same thing. Each month DH and I put $50.00 a month away for Christmas gifts. We have a TD savings account in which we put $200.00 per month for a vacation. We do not go unless there is sufficient $'s in that account to pay for everything. We only give birthday gifts to our 3 youngest grandchildren, the other 3 are in there 20's and only get a card.
Patricia
We also have our little pockets of savings for Christmas and Bdays as well as ING...it really is amazing how quickly it adds up...I like the idea of keeping the bank accounts with rounded numbers...that's a quick way to see some savings!
Thanks for the great tips!
Niki
Excellent tips as always, Gill. Happy New Year! to you and all your household.
More great tips, Gill. Thinking the book that you should write (50+1 'series) should include as 'Chapter 2', "Ways to help your savings grow"!
Keeping an eye out for chapter 3, lol.
Wishing you and yours the best for 2010!!
Great ideas. Although the amounts are high for us, it's still a wonderful way to save. It doesn't have to be $20 each week, it could be $20.00 a month. Gill you are the best at saving!! Congrats and thanks for sharing these wonderful ideas with us. C figured out how much 25 cents a day was and already has her Jan. amount in her container she decorated specifically for daily savings. Hugs
we save with park hampers it starts again 3 rd january £15.00 aweek over 45 weeks i will give me £675.00 in vouchers which will do all the xmas shopping and some left over for the sales all the best for 2010
Great post! I am totally doing this for next year!
Happy new year Gill!
Good ideas there, I'm a bit of a "money squirrel" too.
Blimey I must show my wife this. Happy new year.
Great tips! Thanks for sharing!
I buy yr. around also, this yr. I tried something different ,I hit the 50-75% off sales.I have all of next yrs. gifts bought. We only have 5 to buy for now days, so it was easier to do! Nov. I bake and make hot cho. mixes and Friendship tea so I will have the supplies to buy for those next yr.plus a few I craft gifts for, We pay cash as we go and all change goes into a change jar .It adds up quickly.
HAppy New Year!Look forward to more of your helpful tips!
Blessins',Lib
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