So more about Christmas Savings! I spoke of using a Sinking Fund in the last post, so let me explain a little more about what exactly that is and how to set one up. The first thing you will need to do is figure out how much you want to spend for Christmas. I do this by making a list of everyone we want to buy for and then figuring out how much I want to spend on each person. This usually takes a few passes and what I want to spend and what I should spend can vary.
I then take that total, let’s say $700, and split it out over the course of the year. So while $700 seems like a lot of money all at once, it’s only $58/month. Breaking it into smaller pieces makes it more achievable. Figure out what your family’s Christmas spending needs are, there is no right or wrong answer.
However, it is now October 1, so you don’t have 12 months to spread the cost out. But if you take the $700 and spread it over the 7 paychecks between now and Christmas, that’s only $100/check. If you go back to my post on 9/21 about High Yield Savings accounts you can learn how to set up your own Christmas Sinking Fund.
There are some other ways I will be sharing with you next week to save money to put towards Christmas as well...so stay tuned for more!