Christmas Savings Club | June Meeting

Happy 6 months til Christmas!

Can you believe it? It's not too late to start planning. We've been working towards a goal of a cash Christmas since January and it's not too late for you to join in.

On the 25th of every month from January to November in 2013, I'm holding a virtual meeting for the Christmas Savings Club. The goal for this monthly accountability meeting is to give updates on our progress, motivate one another, and help all of us save for a cash Christmas. Today is the sixth meeting, but you can join us at any time.

If you are new, please read more about the Christmas Savings Club in the first post and join us. My offer for a FREE Christmas Gift & Spending Budget excel spreadsheet is still available.

On with the June meeting...

How did I do in June?
Our monthly goal for Christmas savings is $100. That number includes gifts for our kids, extended family members, teachers, friends, neighbors, bus drivers, service people, our Christmas cards, stamps, and our donations towards the Salvation Army's Adopt-a-Family program.

At the beginning of June, I was able to transfer the $100 to our savings account, however we had a lot other gifts to purchase in June and I ended up using some of our Christmas money to cover the money spent. I am now short by about $100. I'm now scrambling to figure out how I'm going make that up.

Have you found yourself short with your savings goal? Here are a few ideas to quickly make up the shortfall:

• Host a yard sale. Or sell some bigger items on Craigslist.
• Have a pantry challenge. Or challenge yourself to reduce your grocery spending by your shortfall.
• Sell your unused gold.
• Pick up extra hours at work.
• Cut your cable TV.

July's Assignments:
1. If you have not done so, complete the Christmas Gift & Spending Budget worksheet.

2. If you have not done so, open up a separate checking account specifically for your Christmas Spending Savings.

3. Set aside your monthly savings goal for July.

4. Find your shortfall: Host a yard sale. Sell your unused gold. Babysit. Pick up extra hours at work.  I'll let you know in July how I made up my shortfall.

Do you have a shortfall in your Christmas savings account? How are you going to make it up?  Let us know how you're doing with your Christmas Savings Account in the comments. You don't need to leave specific numbers if you don't feel comfortable, but let us know if you did anything specific to save your goal.


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