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2013 Christmas Fund Challenge.

6K views 50 replies 27 participants last post by  mommy4ever 
#1 ·
Ive been thinking that I should put like $100 or $150 away each month..Ive never thought of doing this before so Im going to start this challenge now..

Anyone else want to join me?
 
#5 ·
I'm in too :D

i've been putting away $200/month but I might change that to $125 while I pay down debt.
That will equal $300 per adult child (3) and $100 for baby at Christmas. Then $100 per child for each birthday. With $100 left over for the extra people I buy for.
 
#7 ·
I'm in! I want to stash a total of $1,000 for Christmas and $150 for each of the kids' birthdays (Sept and Oct) I won't begin stashing for these finds until February as I am funding my baby EF fund now and should have it fully funded in Feb Then it will be the actual EF and other funds (christmas and birthdays) for the rest of the year. I hope to get a better paying job after I finish school in March which will help get us moving in a better direction tremendously!
 
#8 ·
In 2012, I put away $30 a week for Christmas and gifts. I did pretty well, but I know that I blew the budget out of the water and overspent. I'm going to try to keep it at $30 a week and work on controlling the gift buying throughout the year and at Christmas :thud:
 
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#9 ·
I remebrer from my childhood Christmas club accounts at the bank. My mom had one. It was how dad reined her in on Christmas spending. Lol and to spread out the expense.

I spread it out by buying during the year. But I was curious how much I would have to save. It came to $1 a day. To match the 2011 year it would be less than that. I did not get as many good deals in 2012.
 
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#11 ·
I am in at 50 per month. I also add one entire paycheck of mine and one of DH in October/November ( it is a three paycheck month) The goal is to have a completely paid for holiday with some left over
 
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#12 ·
I wish I could do this but I'm still hoping that (1) we won't be here at home for Christmas next year OR (2) we're just going to give baked goods and spend QT with friends...considering an open house evening with hors doeuvres a la pot luck style. Either way - I'm not looking to spend very much so for now...gonna wait it out to see how I'm feeling come fall.

I used to tuck money from each pay into an envelope with a goal of $500-$1000 - depending on the year but that included everything - gift, wrapping, baking, baking gifting supplies, gas for travels, hotel etc etc etc.
 
#15 ·
I'm in for $10 a week if possible. I'm going to do baked goods for aunts/cousins etc next year. Grown kids gift cards more than likely. So thru the year if I can I'm picking up a few of the cards... again if possible. On the weeks I do that I won't be putting in the $10. Starting this week.
 
#16 ·
The first $10 put in an envelope and dated. I'm thinking if I run across anything priced really well thru out the year I'll take the money out of the envelope and buy it at that time. This year I was under the gun on time.
 
#18 ·
I'm in. Last year I budgeted and SAVED $1000 for Christmas. Ended up spending $1230. I am going to budget and save $1000 again and this time try to buy throughout the year rather than just before Christmas. This includes everything gifts, extra food, extra gas, wrapping paper, etc.
 
#20 ·
I'm in - started a Christmas club with automatic deposits of $100.00 monthly. Since I am no longer doing stockings for everyone in the family, Christmas is much saner and happier for me.
 
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#21 ·
$125 to my Christmas savings account has been transferred. Balance of $538
 
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#22 ·
Deposit was transferred and I now have $200.00....painless
 
#23 ·
4 Fridays so total of $40 so far
 
#24 ·
Greebo and I are doing this. Last year we were contributing less and found it wasn't enough so we bumped up the amount then cut back on the gifts we gave this year. LOL Christmas gifts include dinner out with friends instead of exchanging gifts with them. LOL
 
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#25 ·
On 2/15 I will have another $100 deposited. A lot of this fund - at least $400 - will be used for inter island airfare - just for the two of us round trip!
 
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#26 ·
Last year out of pocket Christmas cost us $264.87. I did all of my other shopping using comps worth $1600 for the gift shop so I got everything for 0 dollars out of pocket.

This year I plan on doing pretty much the same thing and will also pick up a few things when they are dirt cheap over the next few months.
 
#27 ·
Last year out of pocket Christmas cost us $264.87. I did all of my other shopping using comps worth $1600 for the gift shop so I got everything for 0 dollars out of pocket.

This year I plan on doing pretty much the same thing and will also pick up a few things when they are dirt cheap over the next few months.
:yikes: That should say it all! .. wow! that's is fantastic!! completely fantastic. I am still paying and will continue to pay on Christmas charges. Despite my Christmas fund that I had. sigh.

I deposit automatically into the fund on a monthly basis. The only difference will be the amount I spend on the gifts. There will be a cut off. Since I'm embarking on the no-spend challenge, I am thinking that the adult kids might just get much needed $$. and the baby gets a savings bond and a little toy.
 
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