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Budgeting for Black Friday - something to start thinking about now


budgetsRsexy

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I feel like an overwhelming theme for the people in my life has been that they wish they had saved more for the holidays. Some didn't start early enough so their finances took a big hit in December (or January when the credit card bills came due) and others couldn't manage to follow their budget. Personally I underestimated how many events we would attend and the cost for bringing dishes to pass and/or hostess gifts. I'm going to rework my budget now that I can review all my receipts and credit card bill.

 

What about you?

 

Do you wish you had started saving sooner? Did you run into holiday expenses you forgot to budget for? Are you going to do anything differently or does your system still work for you (in which case please share!)?

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I absolutely wished I was able to start saving sooner!!!!  I was just thinking of this exact topic last week...How can I begin saving now for November?!  This is not something I am use to doing because I usually make sure all the bills are paid and then take a whole paycheck and use that... I was not able to do that last year so my shopping was limited...this year I am hoping to come up with a plan that will work for me and allow me to do the holiday food and gift shopping I would like to do...

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Every year I say, I'm going to put away some of our tax return away for BF, but something always comes up, this year I am really going to put more effort to do it, put it aside and not touch it and then hope I remember where I put it when it comes time lol

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Yep, I budgeted for gifts but failed to do so for parties and hostess gifts also. This year I will have to keep that in mind. I have started putting $25 per check aside for Christmas not including other money that would be designated through out the year. I am hoping to have a surplus this year. Wishful thinking but hoping non the least. 

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My local bank has a Christmas Club, where I direct deposit $30 from each paycheck. They pay out in September, so I always have a quick $780 to spend right away. I have been thinking about upping that because we have so many more people to shop for every year (16 kids ages 10 and under this year with at least one on the way for next year). 

 

It was not pretty when I saw my Mastercard bill this month. Not pretty.

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If we hit a certain threshold, we get quarterly profit sharing checks.  I say I don't count on those, because we don't always hit the mark, but I sure count on 3rd quarter for Christmas money!  Saving is not something I am any good at, unfortunately.

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I wish I had a Christmas Club account that I could pull some of my check to right away. Would make it easier.

 

You probably have better luck with a local bank than a big bank. That's where mine is at least. I had to set up a statement savings club instead of a passbook because you can't direct deposit into a passbook account. It's definitely worth asking!

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I'm in the process of purging a lot of items from our home and along the way have found some items that I will try to sell rather than just donate. If I'm smart I will set any earnings aside for the holidays (though going through all my possessions makes me think maybe we should cut back even further on our gift budget just so we don't bring more stuff into our home!).
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I'm in the process of purging a lot of items from our home and along the way have found some items that I will try to sell rather than just donate. If I'm smart I will set any earnings aside for the holidays (though going through all my possessions makes me think maybe we should cut back even further on our gift budget just so we don't bring more stuff into our home!).

But the more you bring in the more you can sell so the more you will have for the next year lol.

 

We are doing the same, we have a donate and a sell box we are loading up.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Okay.... I have been cutting out buying lunch. Well I cut back to going out only 2 times a week and was putting that money towards Black Friday Christmas and I am already at $200.... I am starting to think I have other problems I should be addressing if I am spending that much on lunch in only 2 months . SMH 

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Okay.... I have been cutting out buying lunch. Well I cut back to going out only 2 times a week and was putting that money towards Black Friday Christmas and I am already at $200.... I am starting to think I have other problems I should be addressing if I am spending that much on lunch in only 2 months . SMH 

Ya I look at what we spend going out to eat and I wince. I try to avoid the reality of that as much as possible. I have been telling my wife we need to stop eating out so much and cook more often and then we both get off work and have no desire to cook anything.

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Ya I look at what we spend going out to eat and I wince. I try to avoid the reality of that as much as possible. I have been telling my wife we need to stop eating out so much and cook more often and then we both get off work and have no desire to cook anything.

Exactly!!!! Between that and the kids looking like there starving and from a 3rd world country - crying there "so hungry" I give in all the time. But I have been doing okay the last few weeks. Making quick meals with leftovers for the next day, sandwiches and the like for lunch. Not what I am accustom to but still good none the less.

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Exactly!!!! Between that and the kids looking like there starving and from a 3rd world country - crying there "so hungry" I give in all the time. But I have been doing okay the last few weeks. Making quick meals with leftovers for the next day, sandwiches and the like for lunch. Not what I am accustom to but still good none the less.

If I could just figure out how to not have a house payment things would be awesome lol.

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  • 1 month later...

We have been doing eh on our goals. We both have some in our savings account and are trying not to touch that. Something always seems to come up (unexpected bill or trip or some such thing) which stops from putting as much away as we want. :) Story of all our lives probably lol

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  • 2 months later...

I've become very disciplined about this...we put $20 into a Christmas club every week. I've also been cleaning and purging my house. Before taking things to donate to the thrift store, I try selling them on several Facebook garage sale sites. It's surprising how much money you can make from things you were going to donate anyway. If they don't sell, then they go to the thrift store. All that money goes into an envelope and gets saved for Christmas shopping. The last way I've been saving money, and I admit this is a hard one to do, is from a way I've read in a magazine. Starting in January, each week you put away money...1st week $1, 2nd week $2, 3rd week $3 and so on, up to the 52nd week. I've found it easier to start with the $52 and work my way backwards.

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I actually opened a Holiday Account at my credit union in February this year :trampolin ...now the funds won't be released to me until the last week of October or so, but I can take the money out when I want, with a penalty of like 2% (or something close to that) for early release...Unfortunately, I had some (minor) car repairs that needed to be done to pass inspection and I had to dip into those funds...I still have about half minus the penalty, but no where near what I wanted to have for BF...sigh...hopefully I will be able to replace what I took out and and then some before BF gets here...

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I have had a Christmas Club account for years now (vacation club too; great tools!). The money will be released Oct 1st. DH and I also save all of our change and I'll cash that in right before Black Friday (usually between $400-600).There is also a set amount that he will give me starting in October. We've been doing it this way for a while now and it works great for us.
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I have had a Christmas Club account for years now (vacation club too; great tools!). The money will be released Oct 1st. DH and I also save all of our change and I'll cash that in right before Black Friday (usually between $400-600).There is also a set amount that he will give me starting in October. We've been doing it this way for a while now and it works great for us.

Hooooooow?! How do you manage to save that much change?! My son always takes any change I try to save...

I just noticed that there are 5 Friday's in the month of September and December this year. If that means you get an "extra" paycheck those months then maybe people can set aside those funds to help pay for the holidays. Just a thought.

I get paid on Wednesdays, so my "extra" check is actually in November...

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Hooooooow?! How do you manage to save that much change?! My son always takes any change I try to save....

Lol, my husband is pretty much cash only; every day he empties his pants and tosses it. Every so often I empty out wallets and vehicles. At least once a week we sort it by coin type in individual jars. The jars are in our bedroom. We used to save change for specific things; brought our first Wii when they were released with change. Now we go from year to year and use it strictly for Christmas shopping.

 

We've made a game of it and try to beat each years amount the following year; we easily have over $150 in quarters already. I also wrap as I go along because it needs to be wrapped for our credit union to accept it. This way we pay no fees using coinstar or anything.

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