Posted on October 10, 2009 - by admin

Setting a Budget for the Holidays

Out of Gas Newsletter - Issue 56 October 10, 2009

Fall Savings for you.

++ News -

We want to wish a Happy Thanksgiving for all our Canadian readers (their Thanksgiving is on Monday).
As we move toward the holidays you need to start thinking now about several different things.
1. Your budget.
2. Your list.
3. Saving on your gifts.
4. Earning some extra money.
- Offline
-Online

We’ll work on each of those topics for the next 5 or 6 weeks.

Links you can Use

What are going to be the hot toys this year - you can use the following links to do a little research (and maybe buy early and save yourself a headache).

http://emol.org/emclub/?q=hotbest2008topholidaytoys

http://www.timetoplaymag.com/mostwanted/

Setting a budget for the holidays.

The first thing you want to do (now) for next year is to set aside some money / save for next year.

There a numerous ways that you can do that. You can start a Christmas club account at your bank (and earn a tiny bit of interest). You can also just set aside some money yourself, which is what I do.

Now for the hard part - setting a budget. If you’ve lost your job or been downsized or worried about your job, then I know this year you’ll be spending less than you did last year.

I would like for you to think about the gifts that you got your kids last year. Do they still use / play with them. If so what was the gift that you gave them.

When making your budget, think about points you could use for your gifts. We use an Amazon card in our business and those points can be used for certificates at Amazon. While I’m sure it won’t be very much $25 is still $25.00.

Here is a good printable spreadsheet to get your started. Next week we’ll use that as we make our list.

http://www.homeeverafter.com/christmas-shopping-list-planner-budget-spreadsheet-free-printable/

Have a wonderful weekend.

Next Issues -

Making a list for holiday gift season.
Saving on your gifts
Earning extra money - offline / online.

Enjoy your weekend.