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.


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20 Delicous Recipes for Your Memorial Day Cookout

The summer cookout season starts this weekend. Here are some ideas for your cookout menu.

The Main Course

Grilled Chili Lime Shrimp

Grilled Pineapple & Teriyaki Turkey Burgers

Red Pepper & Feta Turkey Burgers



Apple and Blue Cheese Feta Burgers



How to Grill Chicken Breast and Not Dry It Out Like the Sahara



Grilled Garlic Lemon Shrimp



Grilled Salmon with Peach Mango Salsa



Grilled Sausages with Peppers and Onions Hobo Pack



Grilled Fish Tacos

Grilled Chicken Fajitas

Super Side Dishes

Grilled Corn with Grilled Garlic Butter

Purple Cabbage & Broccoli Slaw



Black Bean, Tomato & Feta Salad



Watermelon & Feta Salad



Grilled Garlic Rosemary Red Potatoes

Grilled Summer Squash with Parmesan and Fresh Herbs

Delicious Desserts

Grilled Peaches with Homemade Whipped Cream



Grilled Pineapple with Homemade Whipped Cream and Toasted Coconut



Grilled Banana Splits



Strawberry Rhubarb Crisp

Do you have a Memorial Day cookout planned? What's on your menu? Let us know in the comments.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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The 12 Days of Frugal Holiday Fun Recap

I hope you enjoyed the 12 Days of Frugal Holiday Fun. The holidays can be so hectic, so slow down and enjoy the frugal fun and the season with your family.

Day 1 ~ Plan a Holiday Movie Night
Day 2 ~ Attend Holiday Events at Your Local Library
Day 3 ~ Bake & Decorate Gingerbread Men Cookies
Day 4 ~ Build & Decorate a Gingerbread House
Day 5 ~ Have a PJ's & Pancakes Family Breakfast
Day 6 ~ Christmas Crafts
Day 7 ~ Attend Christmas Programs at Church
Day 8 ~ Host a Cookie Swap
Day 9 ~ Family Game Night
Day 10 ~ Gift Wrapping Party
Day 11 ~ Christmas Book Read Aloud
Day 12 ~ Enjoy the Christmas Lights


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This post is linked to Frugal Friday at Life as MOM.

Enjoy the Christmas Lights {Day 12 of The 12 Days of Frugal Holiday Fun}

Day 12 of The 12 Days of Frugal Holiday Fun ~

Enjoy the Christmas Lights

(NOT my home.)

When I was a kid my parents would drive us to another town to look at the Christmas lights that one particular homeowner displayed. A long line of cars would stop and park along the road to get a good look at everything. There was music, flashing lights, moving reindeer, and a Santa climbing up the chimney. Every square inch of their lawn must have been covered with lights and it was magical to me and my brother.

What propels someone to decorate the outside of their home to such a level, I'll never know. But what I do know is that I love to look at Christmas lights every December. And I've passed on that love to my kids.

On one night close to Christmas we take a short drive to some neighborhoods to check out the outdoor lights. Also, when driving home at night, we take the round about way into our neighborhood to check out one street that has many homes lit up. My kids squeal in delight at the lights.

This past November, my husband came home one day with a blow up reindeer for the kids. I even posted it on Facebook. But I can assure you that we'll never be that house where people purposely drive by to look at the lights. We'll let that up to others.

Do you drive around to enjoy the Christmas lights? Let us know in the comments.

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Photo source:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8136496@N05/2121977084/

Christmas Book Read Aloud {Day 11 of The 12 Days of Frugal Holiday Fun}

Day 11 of The 12 Days of Frugal Holiday Fun ~

Christmas Book Read Aloud

"Twas the night before Christmas,

when all through the house,

Not a creature was stirring,

not even a mouse."

Clement C. Moore, author

 

 

Twas the Night Before Christmas is one of those books that I can almost recite word for word without even glancing the book. I remember my parents reading it to me along with so many other Christmas books when I was young. Now I'm reading that book to my own kids along with some of their more current favorites. 

 

Plan a Christmas Book Read Aloud with your family as another way to frugally celebrate the season, but to also take a breather from the hustle and bustle. This year, we're noticing our kids are a bit exhausted by the season's busy-ness, so cuddling up to some delightful Christmas stories helps us unwind, relax and enjoy the moment. 



What's your favorite Christmas book to read to your kids? Let us know in the comments.

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Gift Wrapping Party {Day 10 of The 12 Days of Frugal Holiday Fun}

Day 10 of The 12 Days of Frugal Holiday Fun ~

Gift Wrapping Party

Do you make a big deal about wrapping all of your Christmas gifts? I never have, but realized that it was a missed opportunity to celebrate the season.

My kids love to help wrapping gifts and we have quite a few to wrap for our extended family and friends, so why not have a Gift Wrapping Party?

Once your shopping is done, gather the gifts, wrapping paper, tape, scissors, munchies, hot cocoa and start wrapping. Of course any gifts for the people wrapping need to still be hidden, but the gift wrapping party reminds the kids that Christmas isn't just about them and what they are getting for Christmas. It reminds the kids that we give to those in need and to the people in our lives who help us daily, such as teachers, special neighbors, and our extended family.

Do you wrap your gifts all at once are as you shop? Let us know in the comments.

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Host a Cookie Swap {Day 8 of The 12 Days of Frugal Holiday Fun}

Day 8 of The 12 Days of Frugal Holiday Fun ~

Host a Cookie Swap

When one thinks of Christmas or the holiday season, cookies most likely come to mind. I grew up baking Christmas cookies with my mother and grandmother and I definitely want to continue the tradition with my own girls. But baking several varieties of Christmas cookies can be more time consuming than our hectic schedules allow.

Several years ago, I attended my first cookie swap. I came home with 6 different varieties of cookies. I froze most of the cookies and then took them to my extended family's Christmas party and all I had to do was bake one type of cookie.

A cookie swap is a fun way to celebrate the holidays with your friends and family and you can cross baking off of your holiday to-do list.

How to Organize a Cookie Swap

1. Invite your friends and/or family over for hot chocolate or coffee.

2. Ask everyone to bring 3 things to the party:

• One dozen cookies for each of the participants to take home. As the host, you will let everyone know how many packages to prepare. If a dozen is too much, make it a half-dozen. Have the participants bring the cookies already packaged in bags or containers.
• Additional cookies or another treat to share during the party.
• A basket or large bag to take home their new cookies.

3. Make sure to set guidelines in case there are food allergies or issues.

4. At swap time, have the participant's place their baskets or bags around a table. Then each participant should place their packaged cookies in the other participant's baskets.

Some cookies swap recipe ideas:

• White Chocolate Orange Dream Cookies
• Chocolate Whoopie Pies
• Brownie Muffins

What's your favorite holiday cookie? Have you ever hosted or attended a cookie swap? Let us know in the comments.

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