My Personal Christmas Club Bank - 2013

I got the bright idea to just sock away money every week this year for Christmas.  That way, come December, I have a pile of cash to just go crazy with.  I'm doing $10 a week.  Every week in 2013.  Since we're already in the 7th week of the New Year, I just threw in the money for the previous weeks.    That will give me about $500 for Christmas.  Which probably isn't enough for most people but should probably be close to enough for us.  We really don't go crazy with gifts.  

But I had to be creative with it.  If I just use a jar or envelope - I will dip into it.  And that defeats the purpose.  I need to give it meaning, so I got crafty:

I had an old shoe box and got some wrapping paper and the stuff to wrap it (have to give this a Christmassy theme).

I cut a small hole on top - big enough to get dollars through but hopefully small enough so I can't steal money out of it. 

    

I wrapped it, cut the hole out in the wrapping paper and wrote on it.  Giving it a subliminal message of a "Christmas Gift" will hopefully remind me of why I am doing this and will make me less prone to want to steal it.  The only real way to get the money out is to unwrap it.  

You probably can't see too well - but I will write the dates I contribute on the back of the box.  That way, if I fall behind, I'll know how much I need to catch up.  By December 1, I should have about 48 dates written on it.  

So sure - I could keep the money in the bank because I'm losing interest but honestly, interest rates suck now so it really won't break us losing out on the interest.  Plus - if it's just in the bank, I'll spend it.  I won't take it seriously.  Also - I'm getting my kids involved with it so they will see how much saving can add up.  

It's not too late for you or your children to do this yourself!  We have 42 more weeks until December 1st.  So how much could you or your kids save in this time?  Assuming you don't back date it and just start now, here is what you have the potential to save in your own personal Christmas Club:

$2 a week:  $84 (a great amount for kids to have!)

$5 a week:  $210

$10 a week:  $420

$15 a week:  $630

$20 a week:  $840

$25 a week:  $1,050

What a great & easy thing to teach your kids!