Today I did something that I would guess most people already do, but to me this is a more foreign concept, so I will mention it here. After going through a yearly budget yesterday, and looking at the "gifts" category, it hit me that Christmas season will be here soon and the money we have been so preciously saving will dry up from the Savings account like water in a hot desert, and I will be stuck feeling like an idiot (I do the bills) because we won't have any money left, just like in previous years. So, today I created a Christmas account at my credit union. Christmas accounts are great for several reasons:
1. Saving over the course of the year is small. Imagine only missing $5 from every paycheck over the course of the year. It adds up fast and you wont even notice it.
2. You can't touch the money until a certain point of the year, so you don't have to worry about caving. Most financial institutions I believe is around the beginning of October.
3. This puts a limit on your spending (or at least in some ways it would). If you draw from your savings to buy Christmas gifts it is easy to spend away when it seems like what you have is a huge amount. When in reality, most of that huge amount needs to go to keeping you afloat every month. This way, the amount you see is what you get, period.
I am finding that even the idea that this account has been created is giving me a piece of mind, not having to worry about how to afford Christmas when you are trying to create a decent amount in your savings account. So if you haven't thought about saving for Christmas, think about what it has been like for you in previous years. If you always end up close to breaking even or a little under, think about trying a Christmas or Holiday account at your local financial institution.
No comments:
Post a Comment