Christmas/Vacation Account

How about some blog candy to start the year off right by saving for next Christmas? Aren't you glad I got my fancy girl sewing machine back!!

Lots of 7 1/2 x 6 inch zippy wallets are under construction for Christmas 2013 all from scraps. Leftovers are a beautiful thing don't you think?

First off thanks to all of you for your kind comments on yesterday's post. Your thoughts and prayers mean the world to our family. I know God never gives us more than we can handle and we believe strongly there is a blessing in each trial we are given. But sometimes the love and prayers from others sure as heck makes the road a little easier to travel.

Today was a NORMAL day!! So thankful for a nice boring day to begin undecking the halls and playing at the sewing machine off and on all day. The kitchen and living room are back in pre Christmas working order, my goal is to have it all finished by January 1st to start the new year right.

Lets talk budgeting for Christmas. Last year we opened a Christmas/Vacation checking account. The goal was to save during the year from found money, no spend weeks, savings using coupons, and whatever we could afford to deposit along the way.

During the winter and spring we did GREAT!! Come summer I got slack and wasn't making deposits as often as I should have. Fall was a total bust. Being able to look back on line at my savings/spending habits from this account during the year has helped me know what we did right and where we need to improve.

I decided this year along with depositing any found money into the account I need to make auto deposits each month. Steady Freddy will be the name of the game in 2013. We were able to cover the numerous vacations and getaways last year from the account, the majority of Christmas was also purchased. However we didn't have enough left to finish up our Christmas shopping :( Fortunately by the end of the year we have maxed out our 401K, Social Security and, Health savings accounts so hubby's pay checks are pretty sweet, no dipping into the EF to pull off the last minute spending.

I have really enjoyed having the Christmas/Vacation account. If old man Murphy decided to show up just days before vacation we didn't have to sweat where the vacation money would be coming from. Ditto for Christmas (for the most part)

It might seem crazy for some of you to already be thinking about Christmas 2013 but for me this is the perfect time. I can still remember how short we were in the account and our vacation planning for 2013 should be set by the first of the year. By having a savings plan in place now we have all year to build up what we know we will be spending. No matter how early I start or how hard I try to keep things simple and relaxing during the holiday's something seems to always come up and bite me in the rump :( Not having to worry over where the money is going to come from is one less thing to stress over!!!!

Share with the rest of us how you stash the cash for Christmas each year, we can all use tips to help keep our spending under control and stay the heck AWAY from the credit card boggy man. I will do a drawing on Jan 1st from the comments for the oversize zippy wallet.

Here is how I will be using my zippy wallet during the year. I plan on keeping it in my purse to throw a few dollars in when I am out and about rather than shoving the dollars in my ever shrinking blue jeans pocket. Change would work as well however our change goes in "Christmas Jars" for the needy. At the end of the month I will take that little pile of money to make a bonus monthly deposit in addition to the auto deposits I have set up.  Cute and easy is the way I like to roll!!