Believe it or not, Christmas is just around the corner and I want you to have a truly happy holiday without going broke or adding to your credit card debt. For the next few weeks I’ll be sharing practical tips to help you save $1000 by Christmas.
Today we’re going to set ourselves up for saving success with five basic steps.
Plan Your Spending
Rather than living in denial or pretending like we won’t spend money during the holiday season, let’s take some time now to think about what we want to happen at Christmas and how much it will cost. Determine how much you want to spend (decorations, meals, gifts, travel, etc.) so you can set a realistic savings goal.
Action Step: Print this Free Holiday Spending Planner.
Decide Your Target
Once you know your estimated budget, it’s time to determine the amount of money you need to save so that you can enjoy Christmas without the credit cards. You will be much more likely to save the money if you choose a specific amount to save rather than relying on the vague idea that you will “save more money”.
Action Step: Choose the amount you want to save.
Write Down Your Goal
Numerous behavioral science studies have shown that people who write down their goals exponentially increase their chances of achieving those goals. Once you (and your husband if you’re married) have decided on a dollar amount to save, write that amount on a piece of paper and place it in a visible location to remind you of your goal and motivate you to watch your spending.
Action Step: Print the Fast Track Savings Worksheet here or the 1 Month Money Makeover Savings Target Sheet here to record your target amount.
Make a Commitment
Decide now to make saving $1000 (or the amount you choose) your focus for the next few months. Agree with your spouse or another person that you will be accountable for the way you are spending money.
Action Step: Decide that you are fully focused on saving for the next few months.
Break Down Your Goal
Saving a large amount of money can seem daunting, but if you break your big goal into smaller steps you will be more likely to achieve your goal. Calculate the amount you need weekly by dividing your savings target amount by 16 (the number of weeks left before Christmas). If you’re saving $1000, that’s $62.50 per week — very doable!
Action Step: Calculate your weekly savings goal.
Designate a Savings Location
Once you decide your savings goal and break it down into a weekly amount, you can further increase your chances of saving by choosing a specific place to put the money. You can open a new savings account at the bank just for Christmas savings, or stick the money in an envelope in your sock drawer. Having a physical location for those bills gives you a psychological boost and a visual cue to motivate you to save.
Action Step: Set up an account or an envelope where you can save your money.
Next week I’ll start sharing some specific steps you can take to start adding money to your envelope or account.
For now, share the amount you will save for Christmas in the comments.
See all the Make Money for Christmas posts:
Week 1: Set Your Savings Target
Week 2: Slash Your Grocery Budget
Week 3: Earn Free Amazon Gift Cards
Week 4: Work as a Virtual Call Center Agent
Week 5: How to Sell Your Stuff on Facebook
I absolutely love the idea you implemented on breaking it down into steps! It will make it much more manageable (and enjoyable) to save. I am planning on saving $1000 for Christmas to include gifts, decorations, food, giving and travel. Since we have started our journey to live simply, this year our gifts will be more of the nature of experiences and not “stuff”!
Yay! Glad you’re finding this helpful Shannon. And I love that your gifts will not be stuff. 🙂
Yikes!! Thank you for the reminder Kimberlee!! 🙂 I love how you broke this down in action steps … it feels very simple and doable.
We had a no-spend year with the kids a few years ago and it included Christmas. It was tough but, also really cleansing. Since then we have had a minimal budget for Christmas gifts but, a moderate budget for Christmas activities.
Time to get saving! LOL!
I love that you spend more on activities than on gifts Marie! Great idea!
I plan on saving $1000 by Christmas. It may go toward debt reduction, though.
Awesome! You can do this Evelyn!
A few years ago, we finally set a budget for Christmas. We now have 6 nieces and nephews, plus our daughter, so a lot of kids! We currently budget $500 for everything, including decorations and other miscellaneous Christmas stuff. We have a separate Christmas fund account where we have an automatic deposit every week. Not having to think about it even it goes out makes it easy to save!
I love that idea Jaime! Automatic deposits to your savings account are the absolute best way to save painlessly. Good for you for being proactive!
Hi Kimberly,
We save money all year in an envelope for Gifts/Christmas. We have been fortunate to save $200 per month so we have a nice amount for either birthdays or Christmas giving. One of my ways of showing love is to give gifts. One of our son’s love language is to receive gifts so he’s a big fan of my way of showing love. 🙂 Anyway, saving this much means we don’t have to worry about having enough money to buy for our children or immediate family. Additionally, my husband is a pastor so we give presents to lots of servants in the church like elders, volunteers, etc.. Since birthdays, holidays and unexpected gifts are yearly expenses, we decided to treat the budget category like all the others and fund it monthly. Our children are getting to the point where they don’t need or want lots of things anymore so we may need to consider changing how we fund this category.
Great job Missy! Saving money all year long is definitely the best idea, but starting to save now is better than using credit cards at Christmas. 🙂