budgetsRsexy Posted May 30, 2019 Posted May 30, 2019 As of today Black Friday is ONLY 6 MONTHS AWAY! Where has the time gone?! I feel like BF will be here before you know it and I want to be able to enjoy the big shopping day without worrying about how I’m going to pay for it. This weekend I’m going to pull out all of my shopping lists and receipts to have a quick review of last years holiday spending. Although I stayed in budget for 2018, I want to get a better idea of exactly how I spent my money last year so I can tweak and fine tune the budget and my savings for this year. I’m always looking for ways to cut back on spending (though I guess that’s an obvious statement since that’s why I’m on this site, well, that and the great community here of course [emoji3]). Tell me, what are you doing to get your savings/budget/plan in order? 3
berry1014 Posted June 6, 2019 Posted June 6, 2019 I open a Christmas club every year and drop money into it monthly.
len_mullen Posted June 7, 2019 Posted June 7, 2019 I don't budget for anything. I used to. I found myself blowing 'found money' at the end of the pay period. Now, I direct deposit my check and remove what I need. I have accumulated a lot of 'found money' in savings. You should too! How do I do Christmas? I am always keeping a list of gift ideas. I research best brands/reviews and best ever prices (entitlement). I set alerts on deal sites and jump on items that I consider a great deal. As soon as I hit the return/rebuy/price match date in advance of BF, I start buying good deals. I return, rebuy, and price adjust until Christmas. There are exceptions. I will overpay for 'must have' gifts. You cannot miss on those. 2
Peppermint Posted June 7, 2019 Posted June 7, 2019 Already bought 4 items I’ve found on clearance. I put money away every month as well as shop through the year when I see good prices. 1
Tara3117 Posted June 10, 2019 Posted June 10, 2019 I have a Christmas Club, but I don't deposit enough to cover my whole Christmas budget. You could also open a higher yield account through SmartyPig that will let you categorize your money into "goals" and save that way. There could be others, I just happen to know about SmartyPig. I also use UPromise and Ebates when I'm buying things online (they work the same but UPromise's rates are often higher) and theoretically you could save that cash back for Christmas budgeting, same with a cash back credit card. My husband and I are both salary, so there's no chance of making extra money to pay for Christmas, so we have to save during the year. My husband teases me, but I buy a ton of toys on clearance and save them throughout the year. The kids' Easter Baskets this year were all things I found on clearance at Target. Our attic has a bunch of toys in it right now that are being held for upcoming birthdays or Christmas. 4
bossy1 Posted June 10, 2019 Posted June 10, 2019 I have a Christmas Club, but I don't deposit enough to cover my whole Christmas budget. You could also open a higher yield account through SmartyPig that will let you categorize your money into "goals" and save that way. There could be others, I just happen to know about SmartyPig. I also use UPromise and Ebates when I'm buying things online (they work the same but UPromise's rates are often higher) and theoretically you could save that cash back for Christmas budgeting, same with a cash back credit card. My husband and I are both salary, so there's no chance of making extra money to pay for Christmas, so we have to save during the year. My husband teases me, but I buy a ton of toys on clearance and save them throughout the year. The kids' Easter Baskets this year were all things I found on clearance at Target. Our attic has a bunch of toys in it right now that are being held for upcoming birthdays or Christmas. Mine teases me too..in fact when I was out the other day I called to let him know I was going to finish Xmas and Bdays for our 4 grandaughters because I found a sale..he just laughed..I laughed to when I got over 150 dollars in toys for the girls for 31 bucks...total for 4 girls xmas and bdays(2 ) about 15 smackeroos a child when added to what I had already found...by my count close 300 dollars in stuff for about 60...GO ME ! 5
HanShotFirst Posted June 26, 2019 Posted June 26, 2019 Well my budget is shot to heck this year since I had to replace my 22 year old A/C unit in the house. 1
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