Christmas in April 2015

Hello. Anyone feeling Christmassy yet? Nope, I didn’t think so – but it WILL be Christmas Day on the 25th December this year so I’m just giving you a bit of an advance warning.

Yes, you already knew that, and I’m just messing about.

However, if you don’t want the expense of the festive season to be an icy blast of a shock to those household finances, now might be a good time to start putting a few quid aside every month.

For example, I tend to start in April and split the expense over the following eight months. We don’t go too overboard with the festivities, but I do like to have a little cash cushion in case freelance life takes a turn for the worse.

My Xmas savings plan for 2015

As with last year, I’m going to be saving a tiny £25 per month, so I’ll have a nice round £200 in the pot at the end of November. That should be plenty for covering most of the food, drink, gifts and so on.

The next time I get paid for a freelance job, I’ll be putting the £25 into a savings account straight away so I don’t spend it accidentally. I’m not one of those people who can keep tabs on imaginary ‘pots’ within their current account.

It soon adds up, and it’s a really painless way of preparing for something that we all know is coming around at a certain date near the end of the year.

I’m also doing my Christmas party dress fund challenge again, and saving every 50p that crosses my palm into my chalkboard piggy bank. That’s already been going for three months, and I’ve managed to get a, er, ‘grand’ total of £5.50 together so far. Woo! Wish me luck!

Are you saving for the 2015 festive season already? Let me know about your financial plans and ambitions, and let’s see whether we can all help each another out.