Every single Christmas season I make this statement

Why are we doing this?!?

I don’t like feeling pressured to give at this specific time. It’s as if December rolls around and now there is this expectation of spending two thousand dollars to please loved ones.

Don’t get me wrong – I believe in the spirit of giving. I simply believe in giving as one feels led and doing so all year around without the holiday pressure.

Despite these beliefs and feelings I partake in buying Christmas gifts/experiences every year. #doitfortheculture

One thing that has made it easier is to have a Christmas Gift Fund Strategy! To minimize (& hopefully eliminate) making a December dash to your primary bank account – find ways to: 

Stash, Stash, Stash!

These are the three strategies I employ:

• Acorns 
  • This is HUGE! Acorns takes out $5 from my bank account every single week & also rounds up my credit card purchases. For example: I spent $16.78 at Party City and Acorns pulled .22 cents into my Acorns account. 

• Credit Card Cash Back
  • There is messaging out there that credit cards are bad. This is not true. credit cards are great financial tools if used wisely. Consider getting a credit card that offers cash back and letting the money pile up for holiday spending.

• Unused Gift Cards & Credits
  • In the 11 months of the year when there is no holiday pressure – pick up a few gift cards and stockpile for the holidays. Don’t forget about store credits! I recently checked my Poshmark Credits and found that I had about $50 unused! Bonus: If your employer has an employee reward system consider letting that stack up too!

On top of these funding strategies – consider ways to make the money stretch! A few money stretching platforms that my husband recommends are SlickDeals and Gift Card Granny.

I hope you find these strategies useful. Please share ways you fund your holiday shopping – I’m always looking for new tips and tricks!

Blessings, 

Lonisa