Last week, we talked about how to make your holiday budget. This week, we’re going to talk about how to save for the holidays.
The following is an excerpt from ‘Ultimate Christmas Savings … Because No One Needs To Know You’re Cheap’
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Once you’ve set your budget, it’s easy to see how much you need to save. You should start saving early so that you can put away a more manageable amount of money each pay period.
To determine how much to put up each pay period, divide the total budget by the number of pay periods left between today and the date you intend to begin shopping.
Using an Online Bank to Increase Savings
I highly recommend setting up a savings account with ING Direct. ING Direct is one of the largest online banks in the country. One of their perks is that they allow you to set up unlimited FREE, interest-bearing savings accounts. You can name each account whatever you’d like and set up automatic transfers to each one. ING will then transfer the amount of money you chose on the date or cycle specified. After a couple of weeks, you won’t even notice this transaction!
The more effortless you make saving, the easier it is to put money away. There’s a pretty good chance that if you have to go to the bank, call them, or even log in to your online banking each week to make a deposit into savings, you will never get around to putting the money into that account.
But I already have a savings account at my local bank. Why do I need this?
· By keeping your savings separate, you are less likely to dip into them.
· ING accounts draw a higher interest rate than most banks.
· Your bank may not offer automatic deposits into your savings account.
· You may transfer your ING funds back to your bank at any time, but it takes 2-3 days for the transaction to process. This will prevent you from making impulse purchases with these funds. Studies show that up to 90% of all purchases would not be made if the customer was to go home and ‘sleep on it’ before making a purchase.
Still leery about having your money ‘two days away’? You can apply for a debit card. NOTE: This is only for the strongest willed shoppers. If you are dead-set on getting a debit card with them, lock the pin number and the card up immediately so that you don’t have instant access to it. By leaving it behind while shopping, you will curb impulse purchases and still retain instant access to your account.
To sign up for an ING Direct account, visit this secure address: http://www.gatewaytosaving.com/ingdirect
Unconventional Way to Save Using Gift Cards
If you’re like me, for some reason you feel that a gift card carries more value than cash. When I have a gift card for a store, I carefully plot how I want to spend it. I received a $25 Barnes and Noble Gift Card last year that took me months to spend. Any day of the week, I could have walked into that store and spent $25 cash, but I wanted to make sure that I got the most bang for my buck
I like to consider some department store gift cards the same as cash. Stores like Walmart, Target, and K-Mart can offer everything you need. In addition to merchandise and groceries, they also offer automotive care, vision care, and some even offer medical services. You also probably visit one of these stores on a regular basis. Why not pick up a gift card and add to it each time you do your shopping? You probably spend a fortune there already, so you won’t notice a few extra dollars.
But what if you decide to do your Christmas shopping somewhere else? No big deal! These stores also carry gift cards to other physical and online retailers- even restaurants, and you can buy these gift cards with your store gift card. Afraid you’ll run short on cash and need help paying the bills? You can use it to buy a pre-paid Visa or Mastercard. These cards might charge a small transaction fee, usually around $3, but well worth it in the overall scheme of things. (Note: Be sure to read the fine print before purchasing.)
Whatever you do, don’t tie your money up in gift cards for specialty stores. It’s not going to do you a lot of good to buy a Toys R Us or Best Buy gift card and be locked into paying their prices during the holiday season. Walmart and Target both offer price matching, so you’re sure to be able to take advantage of the lowest advertised sale prices.
Another good option for gift cards is Amazon.com. Amazon offers items for everyone on your list. They don’t just sell books anymore. You can buy everything from groceries to housewares to office supplies. Amazon also allows you to set up automatic gift card purchases under the ‘My Account’ tab. This will automatically purchase gift cards for you on a regular basis. Amazon also carries a handful of gift cards for other stores.
Using Swagbucks to Earn Amazon Gift Cards
If you take one thing away from this book, let it be this: Swagbucks is FREE, EFFORTLESS money!
Swagbucks is a search engine that allows you to randomly earn points, called Swagbucks, for doing searches. You can then redeem these points in their store for various prizes. The most beneficial prize is a $5 Amazon gift card for just 450 Swagbucks. Although the store is full of prizes, many take more points per dollar or cannot be combined with other discounts. The Amazon gift cards may be stacked together to make large purchases. You can even add them directly to your Amazon account so that you have a positive balance the next time you go to make a purchase.
To sign up, click here: Sign up for Swagbucks Once you’ve signed up, you’ll need to download the plugin for your browser. This will add Swagbucks to the search bar at the top. All you’ve got to do is start searching and wait for your Swagbucks to accumulate.
Tip: Start searching for everything instead of typing in the address directly. If you are visiting Facebook, don’t type www.facebook.com into the address bar, type Facebook into the search bar, then click the link on the search page. This extra ½ second step will provide you with additional opportunities to win Swagbucks.
Note: I earn between $25 and $100 a month using Swagbucks by simply using their search engine!
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