Long-Term Strategies To Ensure You Always Have Enough Cash Saved For Holiday Spending

Follow these three long-term saving strategies, and you’ll do just that.

What happens to many people once the holiday season kicks into gear? They panic once they realize they don’t have enough saved.

If spending this season seems like it will be scarce, start making these moves now so you’ll have plenty of savings socked away for next year.

1. Set a monthly savings goal just for your holiday budget.

How much money do you usually spend for the holidays? You probably have a round figure or limit that you usually stick to. You can use this amount to set as your yearly savings goal, and then work backward by saving a certain percentage of your income each month.

For instance, let’s say you usually spend $1,200 each holiday season on gifts, food, and other items. To reach that goal, you’ll need to save $100 per month.

By saving a specific amount each month, it becomes easier to reach your goal at the end of the year. If you wait until it’s too late, you may have trouble stashing enough cash for year-end spending spree.

Provided you have the discipline to do it, you can withdraw your monthly savings goal and put it in a piggy bank or box under your bed. Otherwise, you can set up automatic transfers to a savings account or have your employer take a percentage of your paycheck. By having someone else do it for you, you’re more likely to stick to the goal.

2. Use holiday savings accounts.

There are specific accounts that work great for year-end savings. Credit unions usually have holiday savings accounts that lock whatever money you put into them until the end of the year. By lacking access to the funds, they’ll be there sitting safely when you need them.

Do you need to put a ton of cash into such accounts? Not at all. The point is to put something there, as just $50 per month will give you $600 to spend once the year is over.

3. Start a savings challenge.

Saving usually isn’t a fun activity, which is why framing it as a game makes it easier to do.

For instance, you could set up a 52-week savings challenge where you put aside money each week for the holidays.

If this sounds hard, remember that the goal is to get into the flow of saving without having to suffer. In other words, you don’t have to save a ton each week to meet the challenge’s requirements.

To see this notion in action, try saving just $1 dollar for your first week. For the second week, save $2. The third week’s savings should be $3, and so on. At the end of 52 weeks, you’ll surprisingly have $1,378 saved, which is a nice chunk of change to have for holiday spending.

Regardless of which method you use, saving for the entire year instead of rushing at the end can help you meet your goals. More importantly, it’ll show you the value of each dollar to give you a better perspective of how holiday purchases can affect your entire yearly budget. In doing so, you may be less tempted to spend so much.