I realize it’s not even October yet, but the Holidays will be upon us quickly. I am going to share over the next few posts, how to save for the Holidays so that you can pay cash!
One of mine and Nathan’s favorite things about Thanksgiving is going Black Friday shopping with his cousins in Arizona! We go out in the early evening and stay out until the wee hours of the morning, looking for deals. We’ve gone out in the freezing cold and in the crowds and it is such a fun time...not only because of the deals, but also because of spending time with family and making memories!
BDR (Before Dave Ramsey) we would finance our Christmas shopping on credit cards, carrying the debt into the New Year. When we started budgeting and planning our money, it was in the fall and when Good Friday came around, we had no cash and had committed to not using our credit cards any longer. While it was still nice to spend time with family, that was the worst Black Friday ever. Even though there were deals to be had, we came home with almost nothing because we hadn’t planned ahead.
The following year, Nathan and I had started a Sinking Fund for Christmas. So when we went shopping that year, we had cash on hand for all our gifts and knew what our budget was for each person on our list. It was the best feeling knowing that Christmas was not going to follow us into the New Year with debt and that we were able to enjoy spending money on people.