This Christmas Savings Plan will prepare you for the holiday shopping season!
Hello! If you’ve never been to my blog before, let me introduce myself. My name is Lena, and I’m so glad you’re here! This blog is where I share all the creative money making and family budgeting ideas that pop into my head, as well as other fun stuff like recipes and coloring pages.
Today I want to share with you something I created to help us make a game out of saving money.
It’s a 26-WEEK EXTRA $1,000 BY CHRISTMAS SAVINGS PLAN that starts with $26 and ends with exactly $1,001. You start with $26 the first week, then add a dollar to the amount you saved each week, until you reach $51 in a single week.
Using a 2016 calendar, I figured out that if you start the first week of June, you’ll have enough time to save up $1,000 in time for Christmas (with two weeks to spare)! Isn’t that neat?!
Don’t worry if you started a bit late, there is still time to catch up! Or maybe you can get by with a lower than $1,000 Christmas budget. Perfect! Starting now (whenever that it is) is better than never starting at all!
Before we get to Christmas time, I have to tell you about my absolute favorite website for stretching my Christmas gift dollars. You may or may not be familiar with it but it’s really cool.
This website helps you save money on just about any online purchase you make (sometimes cash back offers, sometimes straight up coupons) and – my favorite part – as a regular person you can refer your friends and earn $50-$75 several times a year just by telling a few friends about it. I don’t just recommend anything….I personally vet every website I recommend, and this is hands down my favorite one for saving money. or read my review here.
Use this website along with my Christmas savings plan to save up all the money you’ll need for Christmas presents and also stretch the dollars you save as far as possible.
Extra $1,000 by Christmas Saving Plan
Here’s the breakdown of how the savings plan goes week by week so you will have an extra $1,000 by Christmas:
Free Printable Christmas Savings Plan
I made this savings plan specifically for Christmas gifts. But you could really use it to save for anything you want. I think it would be a perfect way to save up for vacation.
I am excited about this savings plan because even the biggest savings week of $51 is really attainable for many families. If you go out to eat once or twice a week, saving that amount instead could be the only thing you need to change. If you don’t have an obvious monthly expenditure to cut, then you can also set a goal to earn the weekly deposit on the side.
I’ve listed some of my favorite side income ideas in the post 7 Ways to Make $500-$1000 per Month. Also, you could try survey websites for a little extra cash here and there. Every little bit counts! 🙂
I turned this Christmas savings plan into a printable so you can print it out and place it where you’ll see it every day (on the fridge, in your car, etc). To grab the printable, click on the link or image below. It file will be in PDF format.
Tips for Earning Extra Money on the Side
If money is already tight, then there are ways to make more and still meet this savings goal (and quite possibly exceed it).
Check out these posts for the money-making side of things:
How to Start a Money Making Blog the Right Way
7 Ways to Make Money Helping Your Elderly Neighbors
13 Ways to Make Money as a Virtual Assistant to Bloggers
13 Mason Jar Crafts You Can Sell for Extra Cash
More from WhatMommyDoes
If you think you can achieve this savings goal by just cutting back, these posts are a great place to start:
How I Made $9,997 Blogging in One Month
The Easiest Way to Get a Discount on Everything
Jeanine says
Ok this post is where I get interested… The How To I mean. I cannot save that kind of money if I don’t make it to begin with, so thank you for all the added posts on how to. I have added them to my reading list for the week.
Lena Gott says
I’m glad you found that helpful, Jeanine! I realize that $51 or even the beginning $26 is a lot to ask someone to out of their weekly budget, so it’s important to have ways to make extra money. It’s kind of my hobby – helping people make extra money! 🙂 Let me know if you have any questions as you go along.
Carly | The Mamma's List says
I just found this post and I feel like it’s super relevant after the holiday financial hangover! I love that you’re able to save up a significant amount for the holidays saving less than $50 per week most weeks. We do an annual budget and try to budget for travel and gifts but sometimes (aka every year) the weeks slip by. I’ve been guilty of waking in up July realizing we didn’t put money aside yet. Thanks for the tips!