We thought since Christmas was less than 2 months away and holiday decorations are already up in many stores, we would begin a series on some different ways that you can save this holiday season.
Creating a Christmas Budget
Think of everyone that you will need to buy a present for this year.
Categorize them into -
Immediate Family (Son, daughter, wife, hubby)-
Relatives (In-laws, out-laws, sisters, brothers… you get the idea)-
Others - People you draw names with at work, school. People that you’ve given gifts to forever.
The goal here is to downsize the list first. Everyone on your list you don’t have to buy a gift for.. I know some may thing Grinch - but we’ll come to why we aren’t one later. Those that you’ve culled from the list write down on a new list. These are people that you’re going to give either food to or give some of your time to. Not this Saturday but next Saturday we’ll give you some ideas for these presents.
Before you approach the others list, see if you can’t draw names with some of them or agree to have a big party without bringing gifts. At first I was kind of shy about doing this, but usually when I brought up the subject, I would hear a huge sigh and I knew that they really didn’t have the extra cash to spend on me either.
Now think of the maximum amount that you’re going to spend on Christmas this year. Now reduce that number by 10 or 20%.
Now comes dividing the amount into individual presents. This is where that no two people are the same, and I have no way of knowing how many people are on your list. What I do is put 50% of the budget toward the immediate family, 30% toward the outlaws (we draw names as well), 15% for the Others and 5% for gift wrap and things like that.
This wouldn’t work very well though if you have 1 kid, 20 close relatives and 50 others… give it some thought. If your kid got a whole room full of presents now would be a great time to explain to the entire family that you’re scaling back on presents this year. Now would also be a great time to get a list together of things that your kids are wanting.
Saving Money for Christmas
It is a little late to begin saving money for Christmas this year but it is definitely not too late to think about it for next year. Here’s the way I save, but there are many different ways that you can do it.
Take the budget that you created. Divide the final budget number by how many times you will be paid during the year.
Example -
My budget was $850.00
I get paid weekly.
So my weekly savings goal would be about $17.00 (round up). 850 divided by 52. So I started saving $20 out of my payday each week. After 52 weeks I had $1040.00.
Sticking to the Budget
This is probably the hardest thing to do. When you do your shopping stick strictly to the budget. You’ve made your list (and checked it twice). You’ve broken things down and you know what you can spend. Now follow your list. Sometime it will be hard because at the last minute Susie Q asks for a new Barbie doll house or you son wants a new game that you had no idea that the game even existed. That is one reason why, when you created your budget you talked to the kiddos about what they were wanting for Christmas. If it’s the little one, just explain to them that you’ve already sent the list to Santa and that the elves are really behind schedule this year. If it’s an older kid, just explain to them that you’ve already bought a game for him and he can save his allowance to get the new one.
I am the world’s worst at sticking to a budget. I think mainly because I’m a big kid at heart. But if I can do it, so can you… and the real present for you comes in March, April, May when you aren’t paying off the presents and interest.
Next Tuesday we’ll talk about a way to get five or six (nice) presents for less than 20 bucks.
Saturday the 8th of Nov - Turkey Leftovers
Nov. 11th - Creativity and the gift of your time and talents.
Nov. 15th - Black Friday and You
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