Hot Tip

Last year Luke & decided to budget for our Christmas presents a lot earlier than we usually do, which took a lot of pressure off the closer it got to Christmas. In the past we have always left it until the end of November to start thinking about presents, and two weeks before Christmas we actually go to the stores and get the presents we aren't 100% happy with because of our lack of planning. So mid last year we started putting $20 each a week into an envelope that would be our 'present fund', for Christmas and birthday presents. And it was a raging success! By cutting down on impulse purchasing, and buying things I just don't need on a weekly basis, I was able to contribute that money to our present fund each week instead. That is $1040 a year (or $520 if you budget $10 a week)! And if you have left over after Christmas it sure wouldn't go astray with the end of year sales you could treat yourself to!