Saving NOW for Christmas Expenses LATER

We have a 2nd checking account that, along with a lot of other things, Christmas $$ gets earmarked for.  I decide how much I want to spend on the whole holiday and break it all down (I have a whole list - from presents for ds to a fresh tree, to items for co-workers).  Then I take that amount and divide it by the # of paychecks dh gets in a year, and that amount gets deposited into the 2nd checking account.  When I purchase an item (I use my Visa because I get Disney points used for vacations) when the Visa bill is due, I tally up the items that come out of the 2nd checking account, transfer that amount over, and then pay Visa.  It works out great, because everything is paid for by Christmas time.

 

I also got last year a Christmas gift app that tracks your spending.  Since I tend to buy Christmas items ahead of time, I can use this year round and keep track of Christmas spending.  Last year I got the app after I had already bought everything but it was a great way to organize.  This year I've already used it to keep track of spending and Really stay within budget.

Edited by Stormy - 7/3/12 at 2:33pm

I've been saving up my Amazon gift cards from Swagbucks in my Swagbucks account.  If I put them in my Amazon account, they get spent whenever we order something.  In Swagbucks they're "hidden" and I can save and use them for Christmas!

I do the amazon cards from swagbucks as well. 

 

I also save the EOB for my health insurance and turn them into my health care spending account at the end of the year. It's just hidden money out of sight until I need it. 

I have started doing a cash budget. It has every month how much cash I plan on taking out. So for example this is July I will take out for groceries, the August birthdays, and vacation plans, school supplies and activities. I have what I am taking out set up for every month, totaled it up divided it by 52. Then I have an auto transfer set up to transfer out of every paycheck. Its something I am just starting to try out. Its harder to over spend if you are using cash. The plan is to take out the Christmas money in Oct, Nov and Dec. 

That way I am saving for it every week, I am sure I will still need to tweak it a bit.

I save my $25 in amazon gift cards I earn each month from swagbucks. It doesn't sound like much, but that $300 to spend at Christmas is really helpful. I also save my mypoints to buy gift cards. I earn less with those, but I buy giftcards I can give to my adult nieces and nephews or small stocking stuffers for my kids. I also save all my discover reward points to buy gift cards. I always get our 3 adult nephews and one adult niece gift cards so it seems like I'm getting lots of gifts for free.

Sounds like little things, but all together I have about $500 total in amazon credit or in gift cards which can cover a lot of my spending.

Our biggest savings so far is our Christmas Club account @ our bank.   THis is the 2nd year we've done it & boy, am i glad we're doing it.  We have almost $900 saved so far!

also, i've been watching ebay daily for a few things that are on my list so far in hopes that I can score a few great deals.    This way i have plenty of time to find good deals & have them shipped in time.