I know some of you think I am probably crazy to already be thinking about Christmas 2023. Honestly, I am not really that over-the-top. However, there is one tip that I want to give you now as it is imperative you start soon to get the true benefit of the program.
When I was going to college I started to work at a bank. It was an amazing job on the teller line and I truly enjoyed my time there. I opened my first “Christmas Club” around the age of 18. My parents had also had a Christmas club growing up and so I knew the amazing benefit of it. Working at a bank also gave me the a first-hand account of watching people without a budget struggling in debt after Christmas.
Christmas clubs are savings accounts that are used to save for the holiday season. You can set aside a certain amount of money that is withdrawn from your checking account and placed in your savings that is allocated for Christmas expenses. Every year in October then a check is written or a deposit is made with all the money you have available to spend for the upcoming season. This allows you to set aside a predetermined amount of money monthly to help you not scramble at the last minute buying gifts or to start using credit cards and go into debt.
When I start my spreadsheet of gifts I need to purchase then I already have money available to spend and I know my limits on the purchases that can be made. For many years I even withdrew all my Christmas club in cash so that I knew exactly what amount I had left and couldn’t go over budget swiping a card. (I now use a different method to keep up, but that is for another post.)
If you don’t already have a Christmas club account, check into your local bank and see if they offer an account such as this. If they don’t have one then you could easily create a savings account just for this need and then withdraw when you start spending for the holidays.
I promise your budget and recovery from the holidays will be thankful you invested in this account!
It was hard this year because we couldn’t get anything for the kids for Christmas because we didn’t had money
I can’t imagine the struggle. I will say that if you have any left over at the end of a month and can set it aside then you may have some money left for Christmas for next year. I know this is much more difficult when finances are tight, but even $5 or $10 a month could help towards the end of the year.