Get Ready for Next Christmas

Merry Christmas to you. I hope your's was memorable and you spent a little bit of time reflecting on God's goodness.

As i sit here typing the day after Christmas with the rest of my family still sleeping, my thoughts turn to the new year that's just around the corner and Christmas 2008. I must admit, this Christmas was pretty stress free and I want next Christmas to be the same.

One of the best ways to make Christmas stress free is to have cash set back to pay for all those gifts you are going to buy. One of the biggest stress causers at Christmas time is anticipating January's credit card bill. (You know what I'm talking about.)

Here's a great plan for next Christmas.

1. Sit down and figure out how much you spent on this Christmas. Let's say it was $800
2. Add 15% to this number. $120 ($800+$120 = $920)
3. Take this number and divide it by the number of paychecks you get in 2008 less 2. I get paid every other week (26) less (2) is 24. $920/24 = $38.34 per pay.
4. Open up a separate savings account an put this amount in it every pay. At the end of November, you'll have the $920 to do you Christmas shopping.
   

One other great plan is do steps 1 & 2. Then take this amount from your tax refund and put it in savings. Not only will you have the $920 right away, you'll be receiving interest on it all year long.

Merry Chrismas