Christmas Savings Club | August Meeting

Happy 4 months til Christmas!

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 eighth 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 August meeting...

How did I do in August?
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 August, I was $100 short from June when we used some of our Christmas savings for gifts that were needed that month. I also needed to come up with August's goal of $100 for a total of $200 for the month. To achieve this, I attempted a pantry challenge in August.

I'm happy to report that I was able to reduce our grocery spending in August by about $50 and I'll put that money in our Christmas savings.

Our grocery spending has crept up over that last several months and it was time to rein it back in. My goal during the pantry challenge was to shop our freezer and pantry to put together my weekly menus instead of only using the Sunday sales flyers.

It pays to take an inventory of what is already in your kitchen before you make a grocery list. You'll avoid all sorts of duplicate purchases and reduce food waste too.

I'm still left with a $50 shortfall for the year, but I have 3 more months to save it before I make the majority of our holiday purchases.

September 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 September.

4. Start looking for Christmas gift ideas. My girls and I were in Target last week shopping for school supplies. They asked to walk through the toy department on our way to the Back-to-School department. I took pictures of a few things that they picked out for reference. They were pricier toys, but I'll start keeping my eye open for when they go on sale.

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.


Thanks for reading. If you would like to receive FREE updates of FBS, there are four ways to do so:

• have updates sent to your email,
• through your RSS Feed
• become a fan and 'like' FBS on Facebook
• become a Twitter follower

Christmas Savings Club | July Meeting

Happy 5 months til Christmas!

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 seventh 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 July meeting...

How did I do in July?
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.

I was able to transfer the $100 to our savings account in July, but I'm still short from June when I needed to use some of the savings for other gifts that we needed to buy last month.

To make up for the shortfall, I've decided to do a pantry challenge in August.

What's a pantry challenge? Plan your menu around what is in your pantry or freezer and limit your spending at the grocery store to just the necessities. Any grocery money that is left over at the end of August will go towards my Christmas Savings Account to make up for my shortfall from June.

Not sure about a pantry challenge? Here are some other ways to make up a shortfall:

• Host a yard sale. Or sell some bigger items on Craigslist.
• Sell your unused gold.
• Pick up extra hours at work.
• Cut your cable TV.

August 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 August.

4. Consider a pantry challenge for August. With all of the vegetables coming out of the garden, August should be the easiest month of the year to have one.

Will you do a pantry challenge in August to help make up any shortfall or maybe to get ahead?  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.


Thanks for reading. If you would like to receive FREE updates of FBS, there are four ways to do so:

• have updates sent to your email,
• through your RSS Feed
• become a fan and 'like' FBS on Facebook
• become a Twitter follower

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.


Thanks for reading. If you would like to receive FREE updates of FBS, there are four ways to do so:

• have updates sent to your email,
• through your RSS Feed
• become a fan and 'like' FBS on Facebook
• become a Twitter follower

Christmas Savings Club | May Meeting

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 fifth 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 May meeting...

How did I do in May?
Our monthly goal 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.

Our monthly goal of $100 is now a part of our monthly budget and I was able to transfer the full $100 to our savings account in May. It feels good to watch out savings account grow and I now I'm going to be less stressed in November when we start our Christmas shopping, because we'll have the cash in our account.

One of the assignments in April was to start thinking about some handmade gifts to give this year. I'm not the most crafty person, so I need to get a head start if I decide to tackle any handmade projects. I've started a Pinterest board, Handmade Gift Ideas, to organize some ideas. Be sure to follow me on Pinterest and leave your Pinterest link in the comments and I'll follow you too.

Some ideas that I might try:

• A Year of Dates for Your Spouse. I need alot of time to come up with 12 months worth of gifts for my husband, but this is a fabulous gift idea.
• Homemade Vanilla Extract For friends, teachers, or any cooks or bakers in your life.
• Hand knitted Coffee Cozies - If you are a knitter, this is a cute gift for teachers, friends.

June'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. Find your monthly savings goal for June and any shortfall that you have from January through May.

Will you be making any of your Christmas gifts this year? Also, 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.


Thanks for reading. If you would like to receive FREE updates of FBS, there are four ways to do so:

• have updates sent to your email,
• through your RSS Feed
• become a fan and 'like' FBS on Facebook
• become a Twitter follower

Christmas Savings Club | April Meeting

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 fourth meeting, but anyone can join at any time.

If you are new, please read more about the Christmas Savings Club in the first post and join us. I'm still offering a FREE Christmas Gift & Spending Budget excel spreadsheet, click that link for more information.

On with the meeting...

How did I do in April?
Our monthly goal 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.

As I said in the March meeting, my husband and I are going through Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University online course and we have never in our marriage sliced and diced our budget like we are as a result of this course. We have made gift giving a line item in our budget since it can be a budget buster unless it is planned for. I transferred $115 to our Christmas account in April. $15 was my shortfall from January & February and $100 was my April goal.

How did YOU do in April?
Did you reach your goal for April? Were you able to save more than you needed to get ahead? There is nothing wrong with that! Or were you short for the month? Please let us know in the comments.

May'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. Find your monthly savings goal for May and any shortfall that you have from January through April.

4. Start thinking about some handmade gifts that you can make for your friends and family for the holidays. Some projects might take some time, so it's better to start planning now.

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.

Thanks for reading. If you would like to receive FREE updates of FBS, there are four ways to do so:

• have updates sent to your email,
• through your RSS Feed
• become a fan and 'like' FBS on Facebook
• become a Twitter follower

Christmas Savings Club | March Meeting

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 third meeting, but anyone can join at any time.

If you are new, please read more about the Christmas Savings Club in the first post and join us. I'm still offering a FREE Christmas Gift & Spending Budget excel spreadsheet, click that link for more information.

On with the meeting...

How Did I Do in March?
My monthly goal 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.

My husband and I started Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University last month, so we scrutinized our March budget more than ever before. One of our budget problems is eating out at restaurants, so we cut back our restaurant budget to $100 from an average of $250 a month in 2012.

It is a big change for us, but I was able to put some of that difference towards our Christmas savings account. At the beginning of March I was still $40 behind from January & February, but I transferred $125 to our account this month and I'll aim to get the $15 in April along with our $100 goal.

How Are You Doing?
Are you meeting your goals? Are you struggling with saving money now (in March) for something that you won't need until November or December? Just remember, we're saving for A CASH CHRISTMAS!

Stay Strong! We'll get there together...okay, enough cheesiness!

April'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. Find your monthly savings goal for April and any shortfall that you have from January through March.

In the comments, let us know how you are doing so far with your Christmas Spending savings. You don't have to divulge your goal, but please let us know if you were able to save the money. Also let us know how you saved the money.

Thanks for reading. If you would like to receive FREE updates of FBS, there are four ways to do so:

• have updates sent to your email,
• through your RSS Feed
• become a fan and 'like' FBS on Facebook
• become a Twitter follower

Christmas Savings Club | February Meeting

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 second meeting, but anyone can join at any time.

If you are new, please read more about the Christmas Savings Club in the first post and join us. I'm still offering a FREE Christmas Gift & Spending Budget excel spreadsheet, click that link for more information.

On with the meeting...

The Good News & the Bad News

The good news is that my husband is trying to improve his nutrition and health and in the month of February started a whole foods cleanse.

The bad news is that I didn't communicate my plan for a pantry challenge with my husband and his whole foods cleanse started in the month that I was doing a pantry challenge.

The good news is that my husband is trying to improve his health and nutrition.

The bad news is that I needed to plan our monthly meals from food that was already in our pantry and freezer to help me fund my January shortfall and hit my February savings goal. And my pantry was NOT stocked with a month's worth of fresh fruits and vegetables.

But the good news is that my husband is trying to improve his health and nutrition and that trumps my pantry challenge any day of the year.

So how DID I do in February?
My monthly goal 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.

As luck would have it, even though my pantry challenge was a bust, I did find this month's goal of $100 in a savings account that has been languishing in la la land for some time. Yes, I forgot about it and it happened to have $102 in it. I'm closing the account and moving that money to my Christmas Savings account. But I'm pretty sure my luck has run out, so I'll have to work extra hard from now on.

My husband and I started Dave Ramsey's Financial Peace University Online course and have been very mindful of our spending. We just need to be mindful enough that we can make up that $40 on top of our $100 goal for March.

March'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. Find your monthly savings goal for March and any shortfall that you have from January and February.

How did you do?

In the comments, let us know how you are doing so far with your Christmas Spending savings. You don't have to divulge your goal, but please let us know if you were able to save the money. Also let us know how you saved the money.

Thanks for reading. If you would like to receive FREE updates of FBS, there are four ways to do so:

• have updates sent to your email,
• through your RSS Feed
• become a fan and 'like' FBS on Facebook
• become a Twitter follower

1st Meeting of the Christmas Savings Club

On the 25th of every month from January to November, I'm holding a viral meeting for the Christmas Savings Club, a monthly accountability to help us save for a cash Christmas. Today is the first meeting!

As outlined in the first post, your goal this past month was to create a budget for your Christmas spending. Once you have a gift budget for 2013 that you are comfortable with, divide that number by eleven. That final number will be your goal to save each month between now and November 25, 2013. I'm also offering FREE Christmas Gift & Spending Budget excel spreadsheet, click that link for more information.

Creating a Christmas spending budget in January really made me conscious of where that money was going to come from. We have a gift-giving line in our budget, but when I sat down to create my own budget, I realized that our original amount just didn't cover all of the expenses from this past year. Also, the January-September months are so far away from when I do our actual Christmas shopping (Nov & Dec) that that money often times gets shifted towards other gift giving expenses, like birthdays. I've never been diligent about transferring the Christmas money into a separate account.

So, how did I do in January?
My monthly goal 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.

I'll be honest, this month was tough for me. Coming off of December, our extra funds were a bit low after paying for this past Christmas. I found half of the money from our spare change jar that is on my desk.

Our bank offers free change counting. It's awesome.

I'm using a savings account that was used previously for another goal. It had $10 left in the balance, so I'm including that in my monthly total. So I still need $40 for this month. I'm not too nervous about being behind after the first month. I have a plan for February.

February's Assignments
By our next meeting on February 25, your first assingment is to open up a designated savings account specifically for your Christmas savings. Personally, I opened up a separate ING Direct online savings account for our Christmas savings. I like ING, because it is not easily accessible for me. The money needs to be transferred to and from your brick and mortar bank.

You also need to think about how you're going to pull together February's funds and make up for any shortfall in January. I'm going to do a pantry challenge in February to raise my funds. It's been years since I've done a challenge, but it was extremely successful for me. I'll let you know in February how it works out.

How did you do?

In the comments, let us know if you worked on a 2013 Christmas Spending budget and calculated a monthly savings goal. You don't have to divulge your goal, but please let us know if you were able to save the money. Also let us know how you saved the money.

Thanks for reading. If you would like to receive FREE updates of FBS, there are four ways to do so:

• have updates sent to your email,
• through your RSS Feed
• become a fan and 'like' FBS on Facebook
• become a Twitter follower

Christmas Spending Budget for 2013 {FREE Excel Spreadsheet Offer}

Yesterday, I announced my new year long series, Christmas Savings Club. To kick off the series and get everyone started on the first step, I created a Christmas Gift & Spending Budget excel spreadsheet that I am offering FREE to readers. Details on how to obtain your FREE copy will be at the bottom of this post.

Our goal with the Christmas Savings Club is to save enough cash to achieve a Cash Christmas in 2013. Too many people rely on credit cards to carry them through the holiday spending and January ends up being a very stressful month when those credit card bills start rolling in.

Before the first meeting on the 25th, everyone needs to create a Christmas Gift & Spending Budget for 2013. On the budget, list all of your Christmas spending from 2012, include gifts, decorations, cards, stamps, parties, etc. Next, fill in a budget for 2013. This can be a working budget, where you make modifications through out the year, but you need a place to start.

A view of my FREE spreadsheet:

After you fill in your 2013 budget, divide that total number by 11 and that is the amount that you need to save each month between now and November.

I'm offering the excel spreadsheet FREE to my readers. All you need to do is email me your request at: familybalancesheet @ gmail (dot) com.

January's Christmas Savings Club Goal: Create your budget, divide by 11 and save your first month's goal. Stop back on the 25th and let us know how you did.

Thanks for reading. If you would like to receive FREE updates of FBS, there are four ways to do so:

• have updates sent to your email,
• through your RSS Feed
• become a fan and 'like' FBS on Facebook
• become a Twitter follower

Introducing the 2013 Christmas Savings Club

Another Christmas has passed by and while the memory of the Christmas shopping and spending is still lingering in my head, I've come up with a plan for all of us to start saving for 2013.

According to a recent survey, Americans were planning to spend on average $854 on Christmas gifts in 2012. Unless it's paid with cash, that is one hefty credit card bill come January. According to the Washington Post and a CreditDonkey survey, "a shopper who charges about $700 on a credit card with a 13 percent interest rate and makes only the minimum payments will spend four years whittling down the balance. The total interest paid will be nearly $200."

A cash Christmas equals:

• a stress-free Christmas
• a relaxing Christmas
• a "I don't have to worry, because I've saved money" Christmas. 

A credit Christmas equals:

• a "how are we going to pay for this" Christmas
• a stressful January and beyond
• arguments with your spouse

Wouldn't you rather have a cash Christmas? But the cash for Christmas doesn't just magically appear the week before Thanksgiving. We have to plan and save for it.

On the 25th of every month from January to November, I'll be holding a viral meeting for the Christmas Savings Club, a monthly accountability to help us save for a cash Christmas.

Before the first meeting on January 25th, there's a little bit of prep work to do on your end:

Step 1: Create a Christmas Gift Budget. I created one on Excel. If you would like a copy, please email me at familybalancesheet at gmail dot com.

On the budget, list all of your purchases for Christmas 2012 gifts and add up the total. Are you comfortable with that number? If you're spending was too far out of your comfort zone, make adjustments as you fill in the budget for 2013.

Step 2: Once you have a gift budget for 2013 that you are comfortable with, divide it by eleven. That is the number that you want to save each month between now and November 25, 2013.

Step 3: On the 25th of each month, we will be meeting (via a post) to discuss whether we hit our savings goal for the month. Each month, we'll come up with some unique ways to find/earn/save money to put towards our Christmas Savings Account.

January's Goal: Create your budget, divide by 11 and save your first month's goal. Stop back on the 25th and let us know how you did. If there is enough interest from other blogger's I'll have a linky, otherwise everyone can let us know how they did in the comment section.

Good Luck and let me know in the comments if you have any questions.

Thanks for reading. If you would like to receive FREE updates of FBS, there are four ways to do so:

• have updates sent to your email,
• through your RSS Feed
• become a fan and 'like' FBS on Facebook
• become a Twitter follower