Christmas Saving Clubs?

o_Looby_o

Hey everyone

I'm not sure if this is the correct place to put this thread, but here goes

A couple of my friends and I were talking about Christmas yesterday and how much we are budgeting ourselves for it. We started to talk about these Christmas saving clubs, the ones where u pay them £5.00 a week or whatever and then they give you vouchers or whatnot nearer Christmas so you can buy people gifts with it. Now... My 1st thought about this was, why don't you just save the money yourself each week and put it in a dedicated bank account, but then I realised, I'm pretty bad at that and tend to forget/not do it/not have the time etc.

So I was wondering if you guys thought these companies that offer this service are a good idea or if they are just out to earn a quick buck. Plus also if anyone knows exactly how they work?

Your help and info is always apperciated! (cos u all rawk!)

Btw, after the advice I had about my SOA and stuff the other week, I have managed to paid off my Credit Card!! (£260 odd) and my Catalogue (£50ish)

Only my Car Loan to go now - Thanks guys!

taplady

Hi looby, I've been saving for these vouchers for years without any probs. If I'd been saving the cash in a special account I would have had to dip into it by now or not saved it at all in a short month.
The voucher company dont take any interest from me so I get just what I've saved.They must get their interest from the shops named on the vouchers.
The one I use is www.familyhampers.co.uk Its really easy as I pay online for them. They usually come at the beginning of November so in plenty of time for christmas.

matt4504

Arnt those Christmas savings clubs like really bad value? I think my mum did it one year and she said it was cheaper to buy things individually.

o_Looby_o

taplady wrote:

Hi looby, I've been saving for these vouchers for years without any probs. If I'd been saving the cash in a special account I would have had to dip into it by now or not saved it at all in a short month.
The voucher company dont take any interest from me so I get just what I've saved.They must get their interest from the shops named on the vouchers.
The one I use is www.familyhampers.co.uk Its really easy as I pay online for them. They usually come at the beginning of November so in plenty of time for christmas.

Thanks for that taplady

That's really what I was wondering, if they charge the customer for the insterest or the shop/businesses that they use to supply the goods. I don't really get it all TBH LOL!

I am not sure if I would prefer to sign up to one like you have mentioned (where you choose what you want from their catalogue) or one where I would get vouchers back for I could buy what I wanted from the shops which the vouchers were redeemable. Or do they all offer that?

*zippy*

What turned me off these is that they are delivered to you quite late and I like to get my shopping done early and grab bargains as I see them.

I set up a regular transfer to an instant access ISA this goes out the day after payday, so I don't have to think about it and the money is there when I need it.

piglet6

I've never used this service, but my guess would be that the customer gets back the money they put in (in vouchers) and the company running it make their money in two ways:

1. By getting a discount on the vouchers from the high street shops (they must be buying thousands so I'm sure the shops will let them have a £10 voucher for £8/9).

2. By investing the money you give them through the year somehow and making money in it in interest before buying the vouchers in Oct/Nov time.

This would explain why they don't need to "charge" the customer, as such.

I think its a great idea if you think you would not be able to avoid "dipping into" a bank account that you have access to all year. For several years now I have bought supermarket savings stamps throughout the year to cover my food shopping at Christmas, and this is based on the same idea really - the supermarket just gets my money much earlier. This year, I have tried to be brave and put the money I would spend on stamps into a savings account so I will get the interest until the beginning of November when I am going to buy a card's worth of stamps to take advantage of the extra freebie stamps. This is something Martin wrote about last year (not sure how to do a link, but maybe somebody more clever than me can help with that!). So far its worked and seeing the savings account increase has given me the motivation not to spend it...

But its whatever works best for you thats important at the end of the day!:D

Piglet

P.S. Well done on paying off the Credit Card and the Catalogue so quickly - thats brilliant!:T :T :T

jobbingmusician

THere was a thread and/or a point made by Martin last year about Xmas saving clubs. Most of them add the interest to your account on a specific day of the year (around 17th Nov IIRC, but it will say in the T& C).

So - if you know where you're gonna do your Xmas shopping, it makes sense to open an account, dump all your Xmas savings into it with the minimum time for them to 'clear' (I understand this can be as little as 24 hours) then spend the lot: your deposit and the extra 'interest' the scheme gives you

I must drag myself away from this computer, but it would be worth looking around for the thread (it was in the newsletter as well).

o_Looby_o

Thanks for all the info and help guys!

Its really apperciated. I think I'll go have a proper read of the T & C's of these places.

I think they are a good idea, if you will find seeing the money sitting in a bank account to tempting.. but hmmm.. The only thing that bothers me, is being restricted to certain shops, if that makes sense..

I might give one of them a go...!

o_Looby_o

piglet6 wrote:

P.S. Well done on paying off the Credit Card and the Catalogue so quickly - thats brilliant!:T :T :T

Thank you

o_Looby_o

jobbingmusician wrote:

I must drag myself away from this computer.

Nahhh stay here for a bit longer, you know you want too!

Serialdieter

Hi

I've been saving with Park Hampers for years now and get the High Street Vouchers, Debenhams & M&S. I find them really useful, Christmas is paid for. If you can save every week then fine, but I've not been so disciplined.

Jx