Simplest Way to Save Money For Christmas Gifts (for Next Year)

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Saving Money As A New Year Goal

Are you curious how to save money for Christmas gifts since your bank account is pretty much drained after the holidays? It’s the new year and you are ready to start your new goals (I’m the same too) and is money one of them? I’ll admit it, buying gifts is costly! It is out of our norm to spend and buy this many gifts at once. Although, I will say that it is worth it to spend a bit for those who care for you. However, I did figure out a way to save money for Christmas gifts. Trust me, you will not end up being broke by the end of the year! Yay, who loves that?!

Background Story

A little back story, I discovered how to save money for Christmas gifts probably right after college. I learned my lesson during the holidays in my first year with my first big girl job. Overall I was a saver, I had a budget and financial plan each month. But when November & December rolled out, I was just spending money on gifts. I totally forgot to include holiday spending into my financial plan. Ugh, let me tell you, I was petrified to look at my credit card statement. And yup, it was scary because it was money I didn’t plan on spending. I had to tap into my saving to pay off my credit card statement since it was more than my budgeted expense.

Side Note

I made it a point to pay off my credit card statement every month (aka I didn’t let some expense carry over to the next month). I always use my credit card because cash backs are free money, and my money is more protected than via a debit card. I have more control over what happens to my expense if I use a credit card.

Anyways, that following January, I visited my Christmas gift expense and calculated how much I spent in total. This is what I discovered.

My Shocking Discovery

What I discovered actually shocked me, considering I was in the red in November and December. The total amount I spent was a lot, but it wasn’t a crazy amount. It was an amount that is do-able if I planned better. Luckily it was a new year, and I was able to start fresh. Hence, why I am sharing this now versus October. It will take almost a year to save for Christmas gifts, but it is probably the easiest thing to save for. Like seriously a no-brainer savings, and you could potentially have some extra money for yourself!

Save Money For Christmas Gifts

After looking at my Christmas expense, I looked at my other expenses (that are not monthly fixed expenses). I realized I spent a lot of money on things that were easy for me to spend money on without questioning the cost. Aka buying my coffee every morning, buying cute stationary for my desk (which ends up as just a display versus being used), etc. They’re all $5 here, $10 there, etc. Guys, they add up quickly. The light bulb lit up when I realized I could spend $50 on something in a day and not think about it.

That is when I figured out how to save money for Christmas gifts! If I am willing to spend $50 randomly, how about every paycheck I spend $50 and put it in my savings? In other words, put away and save $50 on every paycheck I received. I got paid every other week. So that’s easily a $100/month, sometimes more when there’s an extra week in that month.

Seriously, all I had to do was save $50 per paycheck. By the time November rolls around, I would have $1,100 to spend on Christmas gifts. That’s a lot of money. Obviously, “a lot” is relative depending on how many people you spend on. I also figured out how much I wanted to spend per person. This helps me know when I meet my limit when buying Christmas gifts.

Proactive Buying

So that following Christmas, I was also proactive and took advantage of deals (aka Black Friday). This led me to more savings. By year end, I ended up with some money left over. I saved half and spent half (because #treatyoself) of the leftovers, plus the after Christmas sales are amazing!

Everytime I share with someone how I save for Christmas gifts, they always seem amazed by how easy and simple it is.

Do What Works for You to Save

Figure out the amount

Although I mentioned $50 per paycheck, you have to put away what works for you. $50 was an easy amount for me to put away yet make a big impact in the end. So if your number is more or less than $50, go for it!

Figure out your limit

I also recommend figuring out how much you’d like to spend per person now. For the most part, I would imagine it is split evenly among each individual. But I’m sure there’s a few you’d think of that would get a little more or a little less. Get those numbers figured out.

Figure out the deals

And look out for those holiday deals! They really make a difference. They’re usually super early on in the holiday season or during Black Friday. You can get a lot for your budget. Plus, you get your shopping done early. Less work & spending for you in December (so ya know, you can actually enjoy the holidays). Best part is when you have money left over! Either you can treat yourself from all your hard work or save it!

So there ya go guys. This is how I save for Christmas gifts. Hopefully you all can see why I shared it this month versus later in the year!

P.S. If you want help with shopping on a budget for yourself, I wrote this post.

xo

RD

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