Christmastime's a Comin'!

We have about 13 weeks left before Christmas and for those of us that get paid about twice a month, that's 6 more paydays! If you don't have your Christmas savings started, then you better get on it! If you save $250 each payday from now until Christmas you'll have $1,500!

Let me break it down for you:
$250 x 6 = $1,500
$200 x 6 = $1,200
$150 x 6 = $900
$100 x 6 = $600
$ 50 x 6 = $300

Of course only you can say how much you've already put aside for Christmas or how much you'll need to spend.

When I made my Christmas list (last night) I wrote down the name of each person I plan to buy gifts for. To the left of the person's name I made a column for the approximate amount of money that I would like to spend (or that I usually spend). We typically spend about $50 on each parent (or parent set) but sometimes (usually) that goes over. It isn't that we try to make it so "dollar specific", but just that we like to go crazy and have to get a grip. Our limits aren't set in stone but if we decide to go over, we discuss it first. For our siblings we try to stay around $25, but some of them have children so I try to budget for little extras there as well. To the right of each name I jotted down some ideas that I've been thinking of (since last Christmas, sometimes). This handy little list can slip right into your purse or pocket so that when you pull it out you'll have your names, items, and spending bracket. At the bottom you can tally up the money you plan to spend and you'll know exactly how much you'll need.

My husband and I often do a joint gift, one year we bought a digital camera, another year we each got a nice watch, sometimes we'll just do shopping money for new clothes, this year we're hoping for a deep freeze!