You should know by now that I’m a planner…I like to think ahead!  Now I know that Christmas 2014 is not yet over, but already I’m planning for Christmas 2015!

For as long as I can remember, I’ve held a “Christmas Club” account at the bank – dutifully depositing a set amount each fortnight to alleviate the financial pressure of December…it works well for me as I’m able to cover my present requirements and have some leftover to spend on myself – that’s a win-win situation if ever there was!

My tips for saving are:

1. Review your budget

If you have never saved in advance for Christmas, and feel at your wits end each year as you try to find enough money to buy what you want to buy and do things you want to do – I thoroughly recommend having a look at your current budget and seeing if there is anything you can do to give yourself a few dollars a week to save…doing it “bit by bit” is a lot easier than trying to find a big wad of cash at Christmas!

2. Open a “Christmas Club” or online saver account

Make sure you have a separate bank account to put these funds…and don’t touch it!  I have my Christmas Club account at a different financial institution to my normal banking, I don’t have an ATM card and I don’t have internet banking – when I’m ready to withdraw my savings I have to actually go into the bank and fill out a withdrawal slip…it certainly deters me from trying to dip into this money during the year.

3. Consider a “Money Challenge”

You may have seen a version of the 52 week money challenge on social media – this challenge encourages you to save a set amount each week for a full year ($1 in week 1, $2 in week 2 through to $52 in week 52) – on this basis you will have $1,378 at the end of your 52 weeks.  This does place pressure in the later weeks of the year which may coincide with Christmas if you start in January – but it’s still less pressure than trying to find $1,378 at one time – you may even consider reversing the weeks if you think that might suit your circumstances.

For 2015 I will be continuing my Christmas Club tradition, I’ve also drawn up a money challenge of my own to save for another goal…I’m excited already!

That’s it for my Christmas 2014 tips – does anyone have anything they’d like to add?

Regards