I follow a site on Facebook called “YourChristmasCountdown.com” It’s fun. Generally, the posts have Christmas music and I really do enjoy hearing the songs of my holidays past in October. I do. But today, I saw an interesting comment that followed the post. Commenter Tara Alexander had her own “money countdown” reminding us that there were only 5 paychecks between us and the big spend.

I liked that. This was a wake-up call that time was passing and we needed to get ready. Basically, start saving money now so that January credit card bills don’t make a pretty miserable month all on its own even worse.

Regardless of the holiday you observe, let’s use the 10 Mondays theme here to take control now of our holiday spending by focusing on a few planning tips to work on each week:

Tip of the week : Monday #10 – October 9-15

Make a spending plan. Commit to a no-debt holiday. What you spend is what you have to spend in cold hard cash to back up the bills when they come due.

How much do you plan on spending on holiday gifts this year? Pick a number and then LOCK IT IN. Do you have that money set aside already? If not, how much will you need to save out of the next 5 paychecks to add to your holiday spend? Still not enough? Raise cash. Clean out that closet and sell some clothes, shoes, accessories you no longer wear. How about selling some gently used furniture you no longer use? Your trash is someone else’s treasure. Have a computer you no longer need, phone you upgraded? Get it sold. Use the profit to add to your holiday budget short fall. Okay. Got your spend number? Like I said, lock it in.

Share this article:
Written by Susan Beacham
Susan Beacham founded Money Savvy Generation in 1999 after almost two decades in private banking and investment management complemented by considerable time teaching at the elementary level.

Leave a Comment