Merry Christmas

Already?

Not quite, but did you know that yesterday (June 25th) is exactly half way to Christmas? Yep, only 6 months (well I guess today it's 5 months and 29 days) until the big day.

Are you ready? Do you have a game plan? It's time to get one.

I post this because I don't have one. I know I should, I mean it's not like Christmas is a surprise! You can bet it'll be here every December 25th, the good Lord willin' and the creek don't rise! I should do more to get ready for it. So far I've earned a whopping $50 with the points on my debit card. But since we are switching to Dave Ramsey's cash only envelope system in July, my point will go down drastically. I've also thought about saving up all the points I earn from surveys and http://www.swagbucks.com/ to buy gifts. And that will help, but it may not be enough, and it's not predictable.

I've been researching online, and found a few ideas:

• http://www.ehow.com/ suggests setting aside a weekly amount to contribute to your CS (that's what we'll call "Christmas Savings". And also suggest using you spare change to add to that. This plan might work for me, since we'll be using cash for almost everything, we're sure to have lots of coin change.

Other ideas I gathered from various sources on the net include:

• Using your banks "Christmas Club" account.
• Buying bargain gifts throughout the year. While I think this is a wonderful idea, you want to keep in mind that sizes, preferences, and fads can change quickly. If you buy a gift too early before Christmas, you may not be able to return or exchange it.
• Working an extra job, such as retail, babysitting, or pizza delivery.
• Selling items you aren't using on eBay, and use the profit for gifts.
• Drawing names-great for larger families, and you'll only to buy a few gifts.

I'm sure you can find many more ideas, and I know you have great ones of your own. Let me know what you are doing to get ready for Christmas this year.

And don't forget what Dave Ramsey says-"Christmas is NOT an emergency!"

Meaning DO NOT touch those emergency funds in order to buy gifts.

Merry Christmas in June!