What's your plan Stan? (or your name) Tell us and win $100
This is an idea I've seen a couple places that I thought would be fun for my sharp group.
The gift-giving holidays are all but over for 2009.
The bills will start arriving soon.
What is your plan for dealing with them? Has this year brought up any good ideas for next year?
Tell us your plan and you'll be automatically entered to win $100.
You can enter this contest until 12 noon on Sunday, January 18th.
I will choose the top 10 finalists and then let you, my readers decide the winner.
So, tell us YOUR plan for dealing with your holiday bills!
Good luck!
UPDATE: The CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED. A WINNER WILL BE ANNOUNCED ON FEBRUARY 2, 2010.
posted by Leo Quinn @ 9:01 AM
77 Comments
77 Comments:
For the first time ever we paid cash for all our holiday expenses -We made a budget to cover gifts for kids and their spouses and for each other as well as a few new decorations, donations, a nice dinner out, etc, and put that much cash in our checking account. We didn't send cards this year or give gifts we didn't need to give. We will have NO Christmas bills this year for the first time in our 36 years of marriage. I highly recommend this strategy.
Hi Leo. This year we were proactive. We all agreed that we have too much "stuff" and really didn't need a whole lot more so my family and I agreed that we would put a $30.00 cap on Xmas presents this year. It is a challenge to find the perfect gift for that amount, but with some careful thought it can be done. It worked out great. I was able to pay cash for everything, so I don't have to worry about those holiday bills this year. Hurray! No one seemed to miss the mass buying and it made for a much more relaxed holiday and didn't start us off deeper in dept for 2010. A real win/win situation.
My plan began a few years ago. I started saving 1/2 of my annual bi-weekly pay increases. So if I got a take-home pay increase of say $20 bi-weekly, I would put $10 in a savings account and the other $10 would go toward paying bills. That $10 bi-weekly has grown considerably in the last few years. This money becomes my horse show expense money and my Christmas money. I don't purchase any Christmas gifts on credit, only with cash - so I don't have the pain of figuring out how to pay for it. I'm not currently completely out of other life debt, but I have vowed not to go into further debt due to holiday spending.
My plan to pay my holiday bills is I am not going to pay them because I already did. I paid for my holiday gifts in CASH!!!! It was not easy but now I have one less thing to worry about in the New Year.
Thank you Leo for your help.
Salina
Leo, we paid cash for everything we purchased for the holidays so we didn't add to our debt load. Plan to start saving now for next year's holidays.
I didn't really rack up many holiday bills, because I had a yard sale and used that money. I could not believe how many people come out to a yard sale in December. I will also have one as early in Spring as possible, and I will also sell herb seedlings. After these sales, anything that doesn't sell I give away, and start sorting new stuff into boxes that I don't want anymore.
I've been buried in debt and had an opportunity to liquidate an assest to pay off all my creditors. Maybe not the best way but I was overdue on the debt and was being threatened by lawsuits.
I now have a fresh start for the new decade. My plan is to budget my income properly and use what Leo teaches to earn additional income. This will help me put some money in bank so I can avoid getting into debt again if I have an emergency situation, and to bring my asset position back to positive!
Plan? The best way to deal with holiday bills is to not get any.
This is not anything I´m doing because I´m smart. It was necessary. I can´t even pay my other (very small) bills so my plan for the next year is to increase my income. I do already have a budget and I´m sticking to it, so increasing my income is the only option and I´m already working hard on that. Right now I´m building a website (ongoing work). I do earn some money with my website by being an affiliate and displaying Google ads on it but I have to earn more and I will do it because I have a good (proven) plan. I´m also crafting and sell the things I make.
THE PLAN. . . .Well, the holiday bills have already started coming in. Luckily, I started socking away $50 / month starting last April, so I had $500 put away in a ING account earning minimal, but a little interest.
Come time to do the actual shopping, I took Monopoly money in the same amount I had put away, and put the play money in an envelope. When I bought a Christmas present, I paid for all of our Christmas purchases with our credit card (because I have a cash back option which gets paid out at the end of Dec),then immediately took the "cash" out of the envelope, so I would know when the limit was being reached. Now that the credit card bills are beginning to arrive, I know I have the money to pay for them. Not only did I stay in budget because I could visually see the money disappearing, but I even had money left over! Plus, I have the added feature of having the cash back paid Dec 31st, and I had $80 less to pay back from my ING account!
I am using the Boxing Day/Week sales to start the shopping for next year already! Yippee! Best plan I ever had, and it sure worked for me. I am doing it again for this coming year!
As for my husband, he likes his beer, but only buys a little at a time, because if it is in the house, he will drink it. I convinced him that every 4th time he was goin to buy beer, to give me the cash and I'd make him a smoothie of some kind. I socked his money away and he had enough for Christmas too, and then some.
My name is Chris, and I sock away a few dollars each month for Christmas. I spend only the cash that I had saved and vow to never charge a single penny. After Christmas, I am not in debt, and continue to pay down any balances still due.
When I renegotiated my mortgage for a lower percentage, A clause in the ten year loan will have me wait a few years before I can also begin to pay that down.
Estimated time to be debt free: 5.5years.
Two years ago I won a judgment for approx. $1200 but person claimed they didn't have any money. I am making another attempt to get paid from this judgment. I know now the person has a job and so can garnish her wages. This will pay for my holiday! Jackie
Well, last year I did have a certain amount of money each month go to a Christmas Club acct at my local credit union and then I also took overtime from my husband(money over what I have budgeted) and we used that. So 2009-No credit card debt for Christmas. Although after Christmas, we bought a Flat Screen TV & stand but it's no interest for 3 yrs, so I have planned on paying off in 2 yrs or less. Thanks Leo for all the great advice. Tami Spliethof
Hi I managed to avoid almost all holiday bills this year. I stopped the family from giving gifts except for a $40 grab bag gift giving. My gift over and above was the normal shrimp and everything else you can imagine to eat on Christmas eve. I also avoided getting my HCRA money back until the end of the year which helped with these costs. I also made sure my 401 was done by end of november so I would have some extra cash in December to play with.
I had no holiday debt. I cut back what I spent and used part of the extra paycheck in December (3 check month) to purchase gifts. For the people in the office that I exchanged with, I made 4 types of cookies, fudge and apple butter. I figured most of us have everything we need and I hate trying to find a place for more stuff. It feels good to not be expecting the huge bill in January.
I had a plan BEFORE the holidays started. I started applying for seasonal positions at several of the retailers in my area at the beginning of October. I was hired by the end of the month. I was able to get 20-25 hours per week in addition to my full time job. The nice thing is that is was just down the street from my day job.
The downside is that you are not left with much time to actually "shop" and enjoy the holiday atmosphere but the upside is that my holiday gift giving was a wash, and I was able to put some toward a couple other debts!
I've also been asked to stay on as a permanent part time employee. Now I can focus on paying down some debt with the additional income.
My plan is simple. I didn't add any debt. I DID, however, manage to work extra hours (with Holiday pay) at two different jobs so that I could still set aside 10% of my income, pay my bills on time, pick away at my debt, and still give my daughter a nice Christmas.
I didn't get a lot of sleep, but I'm proud of myself!
Well, this is an easy one (and, no...I'm not just saying this to kiss up ;)...but, even before the holiday spending began, I had planned to use my How To Own Your Paycheck Again program. I had started it last year and due to "technical problems", I was not able to continue implementation. My first goal for the new year was to get it going again. In fact, today is the day! Everyone is back to school and back to work, so I'm free to focus, concentrate and work on this project. In addition, I realized just how much STUFF is taking up space around here. I'll be going on a "treasure hunt" with a goal of finding $500 worth of things to sell on EBAY or CraigsList. That will take place this upcoming weekend. Of course the $100.00 from winning this contest would be the cherry on top!
Thanks Leo for all you do.
Mercedes Capizzi
Dear Leo,
Thanks for the opportunity to share my Christmas 2009 financial experience. Since I have been receiving your emails in the beginning of 2009 I have quit using any credit cards or charging anything unless I was able to pay it off at the end of the month. I am paying off all the old debt and enjoying the freedom of no accumulated debt from 2009. I am 50 years old, a widow of seven years, I have five grown daughters, four son-in-laws and three grandchildren. For Christmas this year all of us put our money together to purchase gifts for the grandchildren so they received two nice gifts. Then for my children I took them and their spouses out for dinner at one of our favorite restaurants. We stayed several hours laughing, talking and just enjoying each other. They all said it was the best gift that I could have given. (One of my daughters lives in Italy with her husband and they were home this year for the holidays. Our "restaurant experience" was just what we needed for the icing on a very special Christmas.)So I ended my year with no debt and one very happy family with wonderful memories of a wonderful holiday.
I don't have any holiday debt this year because I stopped using 99% of my credit cards about midway through 2009 - yay! I made Christmas presents like special cookies, sugared roasted nuts and I had holiday dinner at my house where a family member split the cost with me. I sent people really personal Christmas cards instead of presents this year and took a lot of time and thought in saying specific things about how and in what way I appreciated them. The one present I did purchase from my son was under $50 and using a 20% off coupon that I "dug out" of the Internet, that was my major Christmas purchase this year. Yet, with that, all the little things I did and the gifts I made made Christmas even more special this year. It's nice to see my card balances coming down also! Paying more than the minimum and not adding to the balances means they will come down - who knew? Just kidding. It does work though.
Leo - I don't have any debts left over from Christmas as I only spend what I have in hand. I can't believe I hear people say they've spent thousands on Christmas, or even maxed out their credit cards. When Christmas is tight, I "do it myself". I sew, so one year all the women received aprons and pot holders, kids received nighties. Another year I made placemats for Christmas. I also knit so last year was sweaters, scarves and stoles. This year I compiled a book of golf jokes for my golfer friends. A few years ago I compiled a book of jokes from the internet and made them into a book for my sister. I also make my own birthday cards as well as use the free ecards. Next year I think will be a "baking" Christmas - Banana or Cranberry bread for friends. I know they can't exchange these gifts, but they are from the heart and a lot less expensive on the purse! And that's what Christmas is all about!
My plan is to have $2000 in my savings for Christmas expenses next year. I hope to have it in my savings account by November 2010. After I have finished paying off this year's bills (in February) I am going to put all my Ebay sales profits into my Christmas savings account. That means I have to get busy listing things for sale.
I did not accumulate any Christmas debt. I have a child care reimbursement account with my employer. I only withdraw a small amount every 2 weeks and during the summer I do not withdraw any (bills are smaller during the summer). I use this like a Chrismas club. (The money is availabe if I have an urgent need, but so far, so good). A couple of weeks before Thanksgiving, I withdrew all the money in the account to go shopping on Black Friday. This year, I plan to try to withdraw even less so I can pay for Christmas 2010 and start planning our 2011 trip to Disney World. You are allowed to put $5000 in the account and it is pre-taxed.
I avoid holiday debt by buying for the holidays throughout the year. I tend to start buying for the next Christmas in January. I am usually done with all of my shopping by October. Since I have spread it out throughout the year, I don't have one huge outflow of cash at one time - which means I don't have to charge it. I buy with cash throughout the year and have no additional Christmas debt at the end of the year.
I also buy myself little somethings throughout the year because I am single and have no family in my area. So I have presents under the tree to me, from me, and I don't always remember what they are because I wrap them as soon as I buy them and put them with the Christmas things. The trick with that is to buy something I *want*, but don't necessarily *need*, so I can wait a few months to start using it.
Well, the way I am dealing with holiday bills is by not creating them.
If I don't have cash I don't buy it.
My plan, which is on track should get me completely out of debt, house included, by 8 years (although I expect that during the process it will speed up).
I appreciate your e-mails.
I didn't add any debt to my load this Christmas. In an earlier newsletter, one individual said her way of saving money was to take all her old nasty bills and throw them in a drawer. When she finally cleaned & counted, she had quite a substantial amount. I had been saving change in one of those jars for quite a while, but decided to take it one step further & do the bill thing. But I also added a $5 or two if they were in really bad shape. It almost got to be a game with me to separate the dirty bills as soon as I got them to put in my cash box! After several months I found I had enough to pay for gifts & dinner and didn't add anything to my debt. Someone else's idea worked brilliantly for me - so much so now that my other half has gotten in on it too to save for things he really wants. I plan on continuing this method as I've found I don't really miss the dollar bills or change. Who knows what I can come up with in a year after what I did in a couple of months! Between using this and "owning your own paycheck" I ought to be debt free in no time!
During the year, I deposit all my expense reimbursements into a separate account.
Based on the amount accumulated by the end of November, I establish a budget by writing a list and attaching a dollar amount for gifts for each person on the list.
The total gift amount cannot exceed the total in my gift account.
As I make purchases for each person during the month of December, I take those amounts from the account and reimburse the debit card.
Come December 31st, I am debt free!!
I didn't accumulate any debt for Christmas 2009. That was a first for me though. One way that I did it was that I began planning early in 2009 to reduce my overall debts. One large impact was that I purchased with a little savings and my tax refund a car that I was able to pay cash for. This relieved my $300 lease that I had paid every month. So without that $300 I first put $210 in savings for when I need to purchase my next car. I put $90 in savings for Christmas. I am also glad to say that I didn't spend all of it on Christmas presents for others but I was able to replace some small appliances at home with the money left over. This year I will go with the same plan since it worked out. Thanks for all of your ideas Leo...for me..you're a godsend!!
Leo, I included an amount in my monthly budget to cover birthday and Christmas gifts. I put this amount into savings each month and left it alone. When we were ready to go shopping I took the total available for Christmas and developed a budget. I withdrew cash from the bank and paid for every gift with that cash. This method totally eliminated all impulse buying for me. I plan to do the same this year.
I won a judgment a couple of years ago and person claimed not to have a job or income but now she does so will garnish wages to collect and this will cover my Xmas debt. Jackie
We did not accumulate lots of debt this year, thankfully. However, I wish we would have saved more throughout the year so we could say we didn't acquire ANY!
We used my mom's credit card for 3 purchases until the hubby got paid. On payday, we put the cash in the envelope, copied the receipts, and gave the payment to my mom, which made us feel good.
I find that using someone else's card works better for us. We know we absolutely MUST pay it off (my mom doesn't care a balance), so we must ONLY limit charging to what we can manage within 30 days.
We set a spending limit this year and stuck with it, which alos helped a lot.
Thanks for everything you do, Leo. We LOVE your newsletter!
Christina
I didn't even see this competition so thanks for letting me know in the newsletter.
Well - my plan kind of started a while ago. I have a financial planner sheet - just an ordinary doc and I've added up ALL of what I call my "annual expenses" - these are things which come up once or twice a year (rather than monthly like a mortage or food) like:
Car insurance, car service, home insurance, family & friends birthdays, annual holidays (vacation), medication, car tax, dental bill, AND Christmas.
I add up the estimated or projected cost of all of these and divide it by 12. Then I take that amount out of my salary every month and transfer it (I bank online so it only takes a minute) to a deposit account.
So when these bills or events come due I either have the money for them or know i will have it within about a month.
That's my plan.
Ciara.
I have NO PLAN for dealing with holiday debt.
Why?
Because we have NO HOLIDAY DEBT!
For the second year in a row, we only used cash. We spent about $1500 total on Christmas.
In addition to that, we were able to pay our daughter's $1800 college tuition bill that was due mid-December. And we also paid over $3700 worth of taxes that was due December 31 (we don't escrow on our house).
We did all of this with cash. How? Because we have a PLAN for every month, and we budget specific amounts for each category, so when it comes time to pay, the money is already there.
And we still have plenty of cash left in savings.
We've been using a combination of Leo's plan, Dave Ramsey's plan, and the software available at www.YNAB.com for budgeting. I highly recommend all three!
I set aside a specific amount of CASH to spend on gifts for the holidays. I only spent from this fund and budgeted so that I was within this amount. When my shopping was complete, I had $30.00 left!
I paid off all CC debts by January of 2009. This money I then put aside in a savings account toward emergencies and Christmas. Through the year it has saved my skin. I had more left for Christmas gifts than I expected. So all gifts were paid for in cash! No bills for 2010! Yahoo!!
We came up with a budget for Christmas in November and decided how much to spend on each person (me, my husband, our three kids and two daughters-in-law). We stuck pretty close to the budget and for the first time we won't be paying Christmas bills in May! We put the money in the checking account and used cash, a check or the ATM card to pay for gifts. No credit cards allowed since our big push is to pay them off in the next 18 months. I decided NOT to feel guilty if I couldn't buy everyone everything they wanted this year!!
I paid CASH (remember cash, the folding green stuff we used to carry in our pockets) for all my gifts this year. I managed it by "planning" all year long. Every day, I'd drop all my accumulated change into a "coin roller", and would put the filled rolls in a drawer. At the beginning of December, I had enough rolled change to purchase gifts for my mother, my brother and sister-in-law, my two nephews, and my ex-mother-in-law (I get her a magazine subscription renewal every year since I was married to her daughter). Admittedly not a large list to buy for, but the change is enough to do it.
I do not have any holiday debt. I made gifts for closest family/friends from materials I had on hand [ I have a lot of fabric and sewing items bought previously], made up some special spice mixtures that are my husbands and enjoyed by many in our home, and wrote messages to others that were heartfelt and spoke of how the other person impacts me and others. I spent time and focused energy rather than money.
Hi Leo! Your book is the best ever! This is the first year I didn't go into debt up to my eyeballs for Christmas. This is not to say I didn't incur some debt; but thanks to your book, I planned for Christmas better in 2009. I put $50 into savings every month for Christmas gift-giving. I purchased gifts earlier in the year while the items were on sale. I made a lot of simple gifts this year and pared down my gift-giving list too.
But I did have some unexpected, last minute expenses to finish a quilt for my niece.
My plan to deal this extra debt is very simple. I am continuing to follow the plan as outlined in your book:
On New Years Day, I made a new list of my credit card balances - smallest to largest. (I paid-off two credit cards last year, so it was time to go back and reassess the debt.)
I received a small cost-of-living raise in 2009 and have added it to my headstart. In addition, I plan to add a good portion of my Christmas bonus towards one debt.
The real surprise of 2009 is I've started a business doing something I never thought of as a moneymaker. I'm selling notecards of little drawings I made over the last year at a local coffee shop. My notecards are selling like hotcakes. I am building a website and am looking at local stores that will be interested in carrying my notecards as well.
Thanks to your book (and my follow-through), I am feeling very good about 2010 even though I'm in debt up to my eyeballs. I have a plan!
My approach to Holiday debt is quite simple. I perform a quick review of my anticipated itemized deductions for the tax year. I then take 25% of this and use it as my budget for Holiday spending. This keeps my spending in line as I then know that I will recover my expenses as soon as taxes are completed. Since I own real estate investments and a couple of LLCs, I always receive a tax refund.In some years, when my wife receives a particularly expensive gift, I will sell some of the stuff I have accumulated throughout the year on EBay. There is always enough stuff to sell to cover my Holiday expenses and then some.
Greg
Well, I plan on making more money by taking on an additional doctor in my work line-up. I also became a mystery shopper and I wait until they offer bonuses to perform a shop that either someone else cancelled or no one signed up for. The checks I have received from them has helped greatly. I will also stop eating out except allowing myself one time when I get paid. I have a 17-year-old son who constantly wants to eat fast food and I want him to start eating more healthy and that has to start with me and saying "no."
Ann H.
Seattle, WA (formerly Wisconsite)
Leo,
We paid cash for Christmas! We used a cash gift to pay for 3 kids and extended family. What a joy not to add to our debt! And, the best part, we were able to gift 4 sets of adults with $50 of restaurant certificates for only $2 each via restaurant.com! What a wonderful gift for them & us!
Here's to a fabulous 2010!
I have no debt from the holidays. I purchased books for every one of my extended family of 27 at the Salvation Army and yard sales. I started in September, went shopping for certain things and found them, (eg. Black Beauty for my niece) and spent a total of about 60.00. I wrote a note inside each one telling them why I thought they would like my choice. Susan Cosgrove NY
Hi Leo.
My family took a proactive approach to holiday debt this year. We set a limit of $30.00 (taxes included) for each person. What a relief! Everything was paid for in cash and we didn't get a lot of stuff we really didn't need. It made for a very relaxing holiday that focused more on family time than gifts. I highly recommend this method.
Phyllis O.
I used a year-end bonus from my employer to pay for Christmas presents, but next year I want my bonus to be a true BONUS, e.g., not already accounted for.
So I'm sending a fixed monthly amount to a credit union in my home town--this amount has been designated for 2010 Christmas gifts. Since it's 300 miles away and I don't have electronic access to the account, I won't be tempted to raid it.
I'm also writing down ALL my daily expenditures, the first step in tweaking the budget. After only 5 days, I can already see where some of our discretionary income is going. By being conscious of what I'm spending, I hope to make better day-to-day choices.
Happy New Year!
HI,
I have been using your "Own yor own Paycheck" for a while now. A few years ago, I started an envelope system. I have an envelope for my "Headstart" for Propery Taxes, college savings for the grandkids, winter fuel, etc. I take the amount out of the bank in cash to fill the envelopes each week, I took for example the property taxes and divided by 52 to determine how much to set aside in the envelope each week. I also did this for Christmas this last year. Not one single thing went on credit card this year. All was paid for in cash, you could do $20.00 a week or whatever you decide. Then only spend what is in the envelope at the end of the year. And I never dip into the "Envelopes", for other than their intended purpose.
This has worked well for me. The "Envelopes" are kept in a Bank Bag, and are put out of sight, when not in use.
This way I have only to deposit the funds from the envelopes to pay for the fuel bill or the headstart money for a certain bill, etc. It is easier for me to do this extra step than to try to curb my spending if it is in the checkbook.
I have also paid off, as of this month the credit card that I used for Christmas the year before.
Thanks for all your Good advice, I am way on my way to owning "My Own Paycheck" Sincerely Dawn Schroeder
I found that I was able to NOT go into debt this year by going through things and giving unopened items I had oought over the year. I also had a few things I purchased for cash after the Christmas sales last year. Works much better than having that heart attack when the bills come due in January.
I have been unemployed since April so I was not really able to accumulate debt this year. I cut way back on my gift giving and took advantage of the sales and coupons (especially for toys). My husband and I chose not to give each other gifts this year. It turned out not to be as stressful as I thought it would be and is a good lesson for this coming new year also.
I was pretty good this year so I should be able to pay off everything this month. I did some shopping out of the closet so to speak and sold some stuff on Ebay to raise cash for the rest. Sue
My family took a proactive approach to holiday debt and set a limit of $30.00 per person (taxes included). What a relief! Everything was paid for with cash and we didn't get a whole lot of "stuff" we really didn't need. I think we all tend to accumulate too much "stuff" in our lives. Setting this limit put the focus on quality family time rather than gifts. I highly recommend this approach to the holiday commercialism.
Hi Leo,
we're starting over. we had some savings - but they did not cover the costs, even though we tried to be frugal. but our headstart will go against those costs immediately in the new year - then we will get back on track with own your paycheck. we're at 5 years and 1 month left.
Pam
I've had a Christmas club account for years at my local credit union (bank).
Over the years I have noticed that I really don't miss that money and I have added slowy to the amount I contribute as my wages have increased.
I currently contribute $50 a pay and intend to increase that amt to $75 this year. I get paid biweekly so I had $1300 to work with when I got my Christmas Club check.
This year it will be up to $1950 that I'll have to spend. I know that doesn't sound like a lot of money to some people who go all out for the holiday gift giving frenzy, but you'd be surprised how much less you end up with on your credit cards!
I also try to pick up gifts throughout the year if I hear one of my family or friends say "I'd really like to have that." I have a smaller home so it isn't easy to find room to keep too many gifts ahead.
I ended up putting only $150 on my credit card this year because I ordered something for my kids online. I made lists of who I was buying for, how much to spend for each, and I stuck to that list like glue!
I even counted about $50 for myself to allow for a lunch or two, and those "much needed" lattes while shopping! It takes a little work, but save your money, do some real bargain hunting, and shop early!
Thank you for your encouraging spirit Leo!
Terri
Hm. I thought I posted already, but don't see it so here it goes again: Well before Christmas, in fact, late in 2008, I started telling the kids - no expensive presents for Christmas 2009 because I was investing in items during the year. So I have no bills from Christmas 2009. My strategy was to plan ahead and communicate the plan to the potential recipients. Another advantage in my situation is a very, very small gift pool.
This Christmas, my family instilled the envelope plan. Starting in June, we began putting $50 every month away toward Christmas gifts. By the time the big day rolled around, we were able to purchase every present, card, postage stamp, ingredient for fun and festive treats, gas for the car to visit family and we even had enough to cover a special holiday movie (with popcorn and all the fixin's)! At a time of the year when there are many, many things that gobble up dollars during the season, we felt like ROYALTY because we already had that money put aside and earmarked for the holidays. It was refreshing, non-stressful and I will NEVER go back to not planning for Christmas again! We've already begun the envelope for 2010 and the head start for Christmas is at $100 - and it's only January 5th!!!
I am proud to report that I don't have any new debt tied to Christmas shopping! I actually did it this year...no debt! I have always had a budget, but this year, sometime in July, I created a budget for Christmas. I listed gift ideas for each person & put a maximum dollar amount by their name. When I totaled it up, it was $600. I knew I could pay cash for things if I started buying in September, so I did. I also made 128 gingerbread cookies & crafted ornaments for the teachers, aides & therapists that are in my daughters life - total of 30! I shopped 12/26/08 for wrapping paper,tags, cards & accessories for this year(I put $50-$100 in the 'after christmas budget' every year & usually get items at 75% off), so I had all I needed. I make note all year long of what people say they like. They rarely buy those smaller items for themselves so the gift is still of value by Christmas day. Lastly, I ALWAYS subscribe to the "special deal" websites (6 I use faithfully) & shop the under $1.00 stores - we have 2 nearby. I got porch lanterns, birdfeeders, Disney stuff that retailed for $16.99, pottery, craft supplies & brand name t-shirts I paired with pj bottoms bought on clearance the prior year. I made pillows out of old denim & velour skirts I got for $1.00 ea a a local thrift store. (I paid $3 for the pillow & cut it in half!) $2.50 for the entire handmade pillow & it's washable! I already have ideas for this Christmas. I'll be taking it back to the simpler times. Less purchases & more personalized items. My gift to my kids will be the gift of donating their time & mine to a worthy charity or volunteering at a hospital. Tis truly better to give than receive...
We don't celebrate any holidays so there is no debt! We buy presents for friends and relatives at random times during the year - when we see something we can afford to buy and know someone who would really like it. People appreciate their gifts more (especially children)when they get them as a surprise and aren't expecting something.
Well, Leo, my christmas plan started a few years ago. I decided to stop wasting money on gift wrap. I bought Christmas patterned tableclothes and such at thrift stores and sewed them into gift bags. Savings $25-50 a year. Second, every ornament on our tree is handmade by my kids. I buy a kit that makes 6 and we keep 1. The rest are given to grandparents as their present since they have everything they need already and its a memory for when the kids get older. We spent $100 per kid for presents and each had some made presents that cost nothing (lapdesk, armed pillows, shelves for their rooms, a vanity converted from an old desk, a racetrack from scrap lumber we had left from other projects. We grow most of our food so meals don't cost very much. For co-workers, I started a white elephant tradition a few years ago that we now do every year, cost $zero and you get rid of something you don't want or need. I also cut on christmas cards this year. I used to send a card, christmas letter, and pictures of the kids. We have very large families. This year I combined the Christmas letter with pictures of the kids that I printed from my computer for those who are no computer literate and emailed the rest, savings $50. So on top of not accumilating any more debt during the holidays, we still worked seasonal jobs to pay down our massive medical debt. If time is money this is still saving us as none of these things took more time than most people spend on the holidays and it was more rewarding.
Leo,
We have done several things to cut and almost eliminate holiday spending.
1.I made gift bags from Christmas fabrics I bought at thrift stores-investment $25, savings 25-50 a year.
2. limited $100 per child for presents, made the rest(lapdesks, armed pillows, decals for walls, vanity from an old desk and mirror, shelves for their rooms, a racetrack from scrap lumber were some of this years extras).
3. All ornaments are made by our kids. Get a kit that makes 6 for $3, keep one for our tree and use the rest a gifts for grandparents.
4. Started a white elephant tradition for co-workers. You bring something from you house that you don't want or need, take turns exchanging until everyone is happy. No money and its soo much fun. I got a set of wall baskets this year.
5. Christmas cards. We used to send Christmas cards, letter, and pictures of kids. This year I did a letter with pictures on the computer. Emailed it to as many as I could and printed and mailed the rest.
6. I also took a seasonal job to pay down other debt instead of using it on Christmas spending.
7. Food. Several years ago, we started gardening, canning, and growing some of our own meat. The savings is tremendous and if done right the time commitment is minimal except for about 2 months of the years. To me that's extra money to pay things off.
Granted that some of these projects started years a go like the gift wrap but what a savings it has turned into. Total Christmas spent $400 with all baking and everything included. I am thinking of ways to cut it even more. Always room for improvement.
My family absolutely refused to take on bills from the holidays. We paid cash for everything. We had a very small budget to work with so we added imagination and made wonderful homemade gift baskets for family and friends. We also gifted special items from our home that we felt others could use or enjoy.
Every year, starting in January, I set aside $100 a month for Christmas present expenses. I am self employed and pay myself twice a month, so every payday I transfer $50 into my "Christmas set-aside" account, so when Christmas comes, we take that money out and spend it on presents. Works every year and there are NO January credit card bill surprises.
I told my four kids, most of whom live out of state, that we were not "doing Christmas" this year--stuff was just too expensive. We would just make phone calls and send love. Then, a few days before Christmas, all my children and their spouses came to surprise me for my 60th birthday! We all agreed this was so much better than "stuff" and being together was what the holidays are all about. So I have no bills, just beautiful memories.
In the past, we've always rounded our payments up. Our plan is to pay minimums to all credit cards and apply the "extra" to 1 card until it's paid in full, starting with the lowest balance because I need to see results quickly. Then we'll attack another card and so on. When we get our tax return, which we already know we're getting, we plan to put 25% in our savings account to pay for the unexpected (we have 2 kids, older cars, and an older home) and the rest will go towards the debt. With planning and tracking (the calendar will be my new BFF), 2010 WILL be a good year for our family. If nothing else, having a plan is reducing my stress levels, so 2010 will be a healthier year. =) For everyone reading these plans, I hope you are able to find some tips to incorporate into your plan and I wish you the best.
Unfortunately, we charged Christmas this year. I plan to take the amount we charged and divide it by 10. That's the amount we'll put in our savings account, which earns interest, each month for 10 months. This way, Christmas 2010 will be paid for by October.
I'll have about $200 in holiday bills which I'll pay off in January. I'm putting in extra time at work -which is a blessing- cutting my food budget and putting my financial house first.
i had no debt from the holidays this year! how? you ask?well....over the past several months i had been putting extra $ into my checking account at my credit union, and when it came time to start my holiday shopping i did something i have never done before.....i used my debit card to purchase gifts.it came out of my account and i could track it on line!
the result? there are no outstanding bills from the holidays,and in fact there's still a couple of bucks left in the account over and above what i need to pay my regular bills! sooooo...ready to start on next year [and grand kid's birthdays,etc.,etc.]...YAY!
My plan is to shop throughout the year for gifts so I don't have a large amount of gifts to buy at Christmas time. This spreads out the costs, which allows me to pay cash for the gifts and then I don't have to use credit to purchase a bunch of presents during a short period of time. I also set a limit for what I want to spend for each person and then, most importantly, stick to that limit!
I have set up a separate savings account for gifts and holidays so that we don't have to use credit when we're short. I am currently selling things on Amazon and Ebay and have started my own business, hoping to use that money to help pay off our debt. I am very motivated to get out of debt!
This year our income has taken a nosedive, so we needed to be creative if we were going to give gifts. I use a credit card for convenience which I pay off every month. I accumulate rewards points that I can redeem for gift cards or merchandise. We ordered gift cards for our 4 grown daughters of their choosing. This included restaurants and stores. They were thrilled. They were able to get great after Christmas bargains, thus getting more bang for the buck, and enjoy a great meal too!! It didn't cost me anything, and the girls were glad we didn't foolishly spend our cash or go into debt for a few gifts!
For the first time in a long time I planned ahead for Christmas spending. I started in the fall, cleaning out closets and the attic and finding things I could sell on eBay and Craigslist. I was amazed at how many items I found that I didn't use but were of value to someone! (I also gave a lot of things away on Freecycle).
I made enough to pay for Christmas presents for family and a nice 30th wedding anniversary dinner out on New Years Eve.
For friends and coworkers I gave homemade bread and cookies as gifts. They really appreciated the work put into those gifts.
For next year, My plan is to take the increase in pay I'm expecting from adding a extra day a week of work, and putting it into a Christmas club account that I can't touch till November. I opened it on Jan 4th.
We decided to stay put and not travel to visit out of state relatives. Travel costs, and gift costs were saved. The kids each got 1 present and they are very content with playing with it. For those we needed to send gifts to - we claimed gift cards from various online survey we did throughout the year and turned clicks into cash (or in this case gift cards)!
No holiday debts incurred.
Joe
For the first time in my life, I did not incur debt in order to buy gifts at Christmas time. What I did do was cut way back on gift giving. I bought a few inexpensive yet appropriate-to-the-person gifts, and most of the gifts I gave were actually items that I already had in my possession! They were brand-new condition things that I just wasn't using, but that I loved and didn't want to sell or donate. I realized that these things would make ideal gifts for my friends and family. I felt so frugal AND like I was giving things that were truly valuable and appreciated by the recipients. It was great! I also sent an email greeting card, rather than sending out snail mail cards.
December is a brutal month for those of us on a debt diet. I deal with the tempation to overspend the same way as the tempation to overeat all the festive food: pick my fights, save for splurges, and prepare myself and others.
Fiscally speaking, picking my fights meant that I limited my gift-giving. I couldn't give everybody everything they wanted, and I didn't allow myself to go off on a guilt trip about it. I sat out on a gift exchange, and felt somewhat deprived at the time. But the world went on, I still had fun, and I got over it pretty quickly.
Even without overdoing it on gifts, though, December is an expensive month with all the extra activities. I saved up some money for the extra expenses, and paid for nearly everything with cash. I also have a prepaid credit card that I use for online purchases.
Just like I didn't want to gain weight over the holidays, I also didn't want to gain debt. I kept that end in sight, and didn't let anything distract me from realizing that goal. I let my kids know that this was not a good year for expensive whiz-bang toys.
We did some shopping after Christmas for school clothes. We had cash, we had ferreted out a 15% off coupon, and we scored some great deals. The kids were proud of themselves, and I was too!
On top of the holiday expenses, I was able to stick with my debt repayment program in December. I felt energized and empowered for the year ahead.
We managed to avoid adding any new debt over the holiday season. Of course, since we had a baby in December, we got all sorts of other debt. :)
Because of the pending due date, we did a lot of our shopping throughout the fall and spread out the spending. We also made a detailed list of what we wanted to get and stuck to it.
We also did handmade gifts for those members of our family and friends who appreciate that sort of thing. I spent a good portion of the fall crocheting for that purpose, and it was surprisingly appreciated.
We managed to have a great Christmas for all 3 of our children and not go further into debt! It was very exciting for us.
I saw a good idea on this which I'm going to try for myself and see if it works. So I thought it was only fair to give back an idea.
This year, among 5 freinds instead of each of us buying 5 presents, we did a secret Santa. This worked out very well rediced expense and made sure everyone got something really nice.
Ciara.
Happy to say I didn't pay for anything with a credit card this year for Christmas. I utilized the cash advance on my tax return to pay for everything. I like this because I can only spent part of what I would be receiving back from taxes and the advance will be taken care of in mid January when my taxes are filed. The rest of my refund will be spent on paying off old outstanding bills. The cost of getting the advance wasn't very much and being a single mother of 4 young children it's very hard to save throughout the year. Happy New Year!
I did not add any debt during Holiday 2009. I did this by using ATM cards for all purchases, that way I also have a record of what I spent. This was difficult on December 23, because I was planning on buying my children's and grandchildren's gifts on this day but my paycheck was $400 short. I bought one toy for each grandson and explained what had happened to my kids. I then proceeded to buy the other gifts on December 30 (when my pay issue had been corrected and I had a much larger than normal check.
After staying on the sidelines, reading your newsletters last year, I decided to purchase your "plan" to help pay off our holiday debt and more!
Hi Leo, 2009 was challenging as I was diagnosed with breast cancer in Feb. I am thankful that I am now cancer free. We had little cash for gifts. We focused on the true meaning of Christmas.I went with my husband when he volunteered to do Christmas concerts at rescue missions and old folks homes. We had a family music party on Christmas eve. Children received gifts out the abundance of what we owned. I gave books and stuffed animals to the little ones and some of my costume jewelry to my 6 year old niece. I let my students each choose 3 books from my huge collection. All the family helped with the dinner at our home on Christmas Day. My husband's birthday is Christmas Day so I put a candle in a cheesecake and we sang "Happy Birthday." This was my best
Christmas ever. You don't need to spend a lot of money to have a wonderful Christmas!
Dianne
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