So, how do YOU budget for Christmas?

cleggie

Wow, you are all very organised, i like it!
So, i have definitely decided to save my CB all year. i t will make things a bit tighter financially, but will help massively for next christmas!

chaosweddings

MandM90 wrote: »

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!

I save with park as its easier for me than putting money into a bank account, I run my own business and having money in different accounts is a pain for me.
I like the idea of paying by dd each month and the vouchers gets delivered in october . I have been saving with park since farepak went bust and have 15 people who also save with me each year.
Also saving for vouchers means I can't dip into the money if I need it lol

building_with_lego

My trick of the last year was to save "the odd bits" of my online accounts every time I logged in: eg if my balance is £296.67 I'll stash the £6.67. (Or £1.67 if finances are tighter) You don't really notice as it's a few pence each few days, and your account looks lovely and neat with its round balance!
Once I got my "Christmas" account over £300 this is what I used to keep it topped up. I rarely spend anything out of that account though, as I shop throughout the year and hide things

TimBear

building_with_lego wrote: »

My trick of the last year was to save "the odd bits" of my online accounts every time I logged in: eg if my balance is £296.67 I'll stash the £6.67. (Or £1.67 if finances are tighter) You don't really notice as it's a few pence each few days, and your account looks lovely and neat with its round balance!
Once I got my "Christmas" account over £300 this is what I used to keep it topped up. I rarely spend anything out of that account though, as I shop throughout the year and hide things

Where do you put the 'odd bits'? And then would that account be odd itself? :rotfl:

building_with_lego

TimBear wrote: »

Where do you put the 'odd bits'? And then would that account be odd itself? :rotfl:

I have a savings account alongside one of my main accounts. (I try very hard not to look at the oddness of the balance :mad::rotfl: OCD much?! :rotfl:)

TimBear

building_with_lego wrote: »

I have a savings account alongside one of my main accounts. (I try very hard not to look at the oddness of the balance :mad::rotfl: OCD much?! :rotfl:)

Haha I would be the same! I would have to hide that account somewhere...!

katiecoodle

I also have a geeky spreadsheet with columns for idea, bought, wrapped & delivered for both birthdays & christmas.
I buy LOTS in the sales & put away during the year. Just been Wilkinsons today actually cos lots of their toys are 50% now so have put things away for kids parties etc too. I have a present drawer so I never have to panic & emergency buy for anyone.

sethsgran

katiecoodle wrote: »

I also have a geeky spreadsheet with columns for idea, bought, wrapped & delivered for both birthdays & christmas.
I buy LOTS in the sales & put away during the year. Just been Wilkinsons today actually cos lots of their toys are 50% now so have put things away for kids parties etc too. I have a present drawer so I never have to panic & emergency buy for anyone.

Excellent ideas will be using some of them. My elderly great aunt would buy all her birthday cards for the year. They were written, addressed and the date of the birthday was written in pencil where the stamp goes. These were then put in date order in a box waiting to be posted.

TimBear

sethsgran wrote: »

Excellent ideas will be using some of them. My elderly great aunt would buy all her birthday cards for the year. They were written, addressed and the date of the birthday was written in pencil where the stamp goes. These were then put in date order in a box waiting to be posted.

I do this, but on a monthly rather than annual basis!

I bulk buy my cards in Card Factory where it's often seven for £1, or even ten for £1 sometimes.

jtr2803

I am really curious about all the people that have already bought gifts for next year...how do you know that's what those people will want next year? I could imagine doing this for my mum as she generally likes the same things every year - PJ's, slippers and that sort of thing but my boyfriend and brother normally want computer games or newly released electronics. Yes, I could go and buy some bits now but I think I would be buying them for the sake of having a gift to give them rather than something I know they really want. I also have absolutely no room to store presents here really

I generally don't put money aside for Xmas but generally start buying things in September/October, going to try and change things a bit this year although it wont be until the summer as I have almost every penny allocated for the next six months due to holidays :eek: