Thursday, January 13, 2011

Christmas 2011: Plan Your Budget Now

I know many of us may not want to think about next year's Christmas right now. After all, it is more than 11 months away!

But now is the time to start planning your Christmas budget and saving for the gifts that you know you'll want to purchase come December 2011.

We like to save a decided upon amount every month in a savings category marked Christmas. Then when the holiday season rolls around, the money is there.

This year I plan to put all of my earned money from doing  Pinecone Research surveys into our Christmas fund. I only earn $3 per survey but every little bit adds up. In 2010, I averaged about 3 surveys a month. If this continues, that adds up to $108 by the end of the year. With careful shopping, keeping gifts simple and mostly homemade, this money will stretch pretty far. We may also use some of our Amazon gifts cards  earned through Swagbucks for Christmas shopping and then save a little extra cash each month if needed to complete our Christmas goals.

As  Dave Ramsey says, "Christmas is not an emergency, since it comes around at the same time every year."

So let's start planning and saving now!

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