So, how do YOU budget for Christmas?

minipenny_2

cleggie wrote: »

For those of you who save a set amount every month- do you decide of a budget for Christmas and then divide that by 12 (months) and set that amount aside? Or do you just save a set amount every month and make that your Christmas budget at the end of the year?

I did an excel spreadsheet put everyones names on and a budget for both christmas and birthday in each (I tend to spend a bit more on some people at christmas (ie kids stockings etc) then I calculated it, took away anything already had and divide by 12

ie: Last year I think it was something like 350 for bdays throughout the year and 450 for christmas and I worked out that I had £240 or something in vouchers (from the survey sites and gifts from other people) so I took that off it worked out as £45/46 a month to go in the account but some months I'd earn more vouchers so I wouldn't need to put in if that makes sense.

I think we ended up having a bit over £100 left as my amounts budgeted for people are maximum amounts and I try to stay on top of deals etc so I spend far less if possible. so that just goes into the account for next year

it was my first time doing it this way so this year I've budgeted less for people as we cannot afford as much this year.

ETA- It was in an ISA you can withdraw from too so I just moved the money into my accounts when I needed the amount for bday presents.

kitty_cat_2

I've done this for the past two years, although the money saved in the first half of the year is usually used for holiday spends. We did have a savings club in work but the person running it stopped doing it a couple of years ago. I really missed it hence saving child benefit money.

cleggie wrote: »

Hi all.
Do you guys save a certain amount out of your budget every month/week towards Christmas?
I am thinking about saving all of my child benefit all year, so that when it gets to September 2012, i have the money to start buying, therfore being prepared.

So, how do YOU budget for Christmas (if you do)?

joe_purdy

The last 2 years ive bought one of those tins that cant be opened unless you smash so i cant be tempted :A

The first year i saved £5 a week so when i opened at the start of december i had £260 and i also did overtime at work so had another £250 so have just over £500 which was plenty to get everything i needed. This year i was even more organised and started buying earlier, about september time so i still saved in the sealed tin which i managed to save about £300 in, i did overtime at work over a few months which came to another £300 and i also did quite a bit of ebaying over the year and kept the money in paypal so if i orderd something off an online shop which in this instance was superdrug i paid via paypal so felt like i wasnt paying :T

Next year i plan to equal or top this year, ive joined the make £2012 in 2012 challenge to cover christmas and a nice long weekend away in manchester early december for my 21st birthday. Im planning on making this money purely by doing overtime at work, selling on ebay and by getting back into making crafts. Ive already work overtime at work boxing day and yesterday and am working new years day. Ive also bought all my wrapping paper, christmas cards, tags etc... heres to christmas 2012!! :beer:

pink_princess

I don't save for Christmas per se but I do save. I work on the 10% rule. So 10% of my income, my husbands income & any extra earned on the internet or freelance work is all saved for christmas/holidays/emergencys etc in to another account. The highest interest if possible.
I struggled with this at first as it was a big drop in money to us but within weeks we had adapted & now we don't struggle or worry, honest give it a try, you can't lose. If you need it with draw it again but don't take out more than you need to scrape by

andrinaperry

I save 50 per month by standing order to my saving account adn that covers everything including food

andrinaperry

I love this idea is it 10% of your net income

a

pink_princess wrote: »

I don't save for Christmas per se but I do save. I work on the 10% rule. So 10% of my income, my husbands income & any extra earned on the internet or freelance work is all saved for christmas/holidays/emergencys etc in to another account. The highest interest if possible.
I struggled with this at first as it was a big drop in money to us but within weeks we had adapted & now we don't struggle or worry, honest give it a try, you can't lose. If you need it with draw it again but don't take out more than you need to scrape by

pink_princess

andrinaperry wrote: »

I love this idea is it 10% of your net income

a

Yes 10% of our take home, the first few weeks were a massive shock to the system but we did it:T.
We started to make our own food & set the heating to 18 deg. We dipped the savings about 3 times in the first year but never by more than we had put in that month

Just a couple of years later & you would not believe the difference. Please try this, you can not lose :j

oldtractor

Whatever is left in the bank account at the end of the month get split between xmas & bithdays account,goingout/entertainment,unexpected expense/other. I usually have approx £200 for xmas,this year it was £165. This is for all of xmas and new year,presents,food and drink. We only buy for DS 's and DGS. We dont buy for each other nor do we do "going out" over xmas,we cant afford it.

sharronej

I too was burned by Farepak and then there were a few years hovering between organised with savings and OMG IT'S CHRISTMAS NEXT WEEK :rotfl: This year I saved £800 but spent £1400 so I've been thinking about next year, the problem is that I am trying to clear a huge amount of debt over the next 12 months which would make saving up for Christmas difficult......not sure what to do, I can't do both that's for sure

For the first time ever I have had £40 on my B00Ts card and then I was given another £45 of gift vouchers for myself so I have 'borrowed' the money and been to the sales today - I have spent £115 on next years presents but I took a list of names with me and have bought some lovely gifts at half price...I managed 17 presents for my money and one of the people on my list was my MIL (I've bought her a lovely Gok Wan giftset and a beautiful leather bag from M&S the total was £23 - less than half what I would normally spend). I've joined a survey site and have earned £15 in Amazon vouchers - I think I can manage £10 pcm and will use them exclusively for Christmas presents. I use the Tesc0 vouchers and always quadruple some for G0ldsmiths and this year I did the same for Bella Italia, I also tripled some for Jess0ps. I suspect I will still be short though so will have to work out by how much and then see what I can put away. I do however feel very proud of myself and would like to say thank you for giving me the opportunity to tell somebody who won't think I'm mad :beer:

MandM90

Mykidsmyworld27 wrote: »

I am a Christmas extremest so Iv been told:D.
I save vouchers with Parks everyweek cost around £7 a week and I get £350 love to shop vouchers early october.
I buy gifts for family and friends with the love to shop vouchers.
For my kids gifts I do surveys and write on review sites, I earn around £800 a year doing these sometimes more and takes up to an hour a night.

That's a lot of time to spend on surveys; 1 hour a day is 365 hours a year :eek:. At National minimum wage you'd earn about £2200 per year for that.

I'm quite interested as to why people chose to save with these voucher companies rather than just in a bank account?

It's surprising to me just how much emphasis people put financially on Christmas each year. I love Christmas and tend to save heavily in general for emergencies and to keep in the black but I'm not sure I'd like to start thinking about the holidays so soon in the year!