One easy way to help you save now is to set up a budget for your Christmas expenses. If you are able to you can set up a Christmas savings account through your credit union or bank. You can set up automatic transfers to this account every month, as well as deposit extra money into the account through out the year. Typically you will receive a check in the mail for the amount in the account sometime in October. This makes it easy to save for Christmas expenses throughout the year.
If you do not have an account like this available to you, you can save in a similar way on your own. Just break your savings into categories. You can track how much you have put into that category and withdraw the money when you need it.
It is important to set up a budget for Christmas expenses. This is a category that many people overspend on year after year. People end up paying for their credit purchases through the next year, and then charge up their cards again when Christmas rolls around. You can reverse this trend by beginning to save in January for the next year.
To set up a Christmas budget you need to account for all the money you will be spending during the holidays. You should count the number of gifts that you give to immediate family members, and then to your side of the family and your spouse’s side of the family. You should consider the amount it takes to purchase and mail Christmas cards, gifts for the neighbors, money you donate to charity, Christmas travel plans, special Christmas events you attend, Christmas food and goodies that you bake. You may be able to spread some of these costs into other categories, but the little expenses can add up quickly. Divide the total amount by twelve and that is how much you should save each month. If you can’t afford to set aside that money each month, then you will need to cut back on your holiday spending or find inexpensive ways to accomplish the same goals.
Once you begin shopping for Christmas you should begin subtracting what you have spent from the amount you have saved. Once you run out of money, you should stop spending. This will help you to curtail the costs. Since it is fairly late in the year to set up a Christmas savings account, you can still save money on your own. You should decide how much you could afford to spend and stick to that amount. You still have four months to save, plan and hunt for deals.