My husband is saving

[Zooshoveller]

I don't know where he got this idea, but I am loving it!

DH has started his own Christmas Savings Jar. In 52 weeks he will have $1378. (Christmas is in week 51, so really $1326) First week you put in $1, second week $2, third week $3...

Those dollars add up!

 

[KT27]

Both my husband and I are doing this as well. I saw it on Pinterest.

 

[gracie1]

That has been posted everywhere on the internet and facebook.

I thought about doing that, but I guess I technically do more since I round all my dollars up and also deduct $20 per pay out of my checking account and let it just sit in there.

 

[Zooshoveller]

Hmm... He's not a social network kind of guy, but he does peruse my Pinterest for ideas and recipes... LOL

I don't care where the idea came from, just loving the active role he has taken! Usually I'm the one who budgets for vacations and holidays. "Honey we need $XXXX for Disney" and he just adjusts the automatic draft for our savings account.

 

[Marionnette]

I don't know where he got this idea, but I am loving it!

DH has started his own Christmas Savings Jar. In 52 weeks he will have $1378. (Christmas is in week 51, so really $1326) First week you put in $1, second week $2, third week $3...

Those dollars add up!

That has been posted everywhere on the internet and facebook.

I thought about doing that, but I guess I technically do more since I round all my dollars up and also deduct $20 per pay out of my checking account and let it just sit in there.

I've seen this posted a number of times, too. Every time that I see it, I wonder if the people who are so excited about it are just mathematically challenged? Sure, it sounds easy to put $1 or $2 aside each week. Heck, most people can even do $20/week without missing it. It's the later part of the plan that gets difficult. You know...the last 3 months where you end up saving $170, $186, and $202 respectively. How easy is that going to be? Just how much would you have in your savings if you quit after 6 months? The answer is only $351! You have to save nearly $1000 in the last 6 months if you follow this plan!

I think that if you can find room in your budget to save $50+/week, then why not do it from the beginning? At least you would have a good start to your savings when you have the most enthusiasm for doing it. If you only make it to 6 months, you would have $1300 saved.

 

[Zooshoveller]

I've seen this posted a number of times, too. Every time that I see it, I wonder if the people who are so excited about it are just mathematically challenged? Sure, it sounds easy to put $1 or $2 aside each week. Heck, most people can even do $20/week without missing it. It's the later part of the plan that gets difficult. You know...the last 3 months where you end up saving $170, $186, and $202 respectively. How easy is that going to be? Just how much would you have in your savings if you quit after 6 months? The answer is only $351! You have to save nearly $1000 in the last 6 months if you follow this plan!

I think that if you can find room in your budget to save $50+/week, then why not do it from the beginning? At least you would have a good start to your savings when you have the most enthusiasm for doing it. If you only make it to 6 months, you would have $1300 saved.

We have a regular savings account for emergencies, vacations, whatnot. This is something extra he wanted to do. I am very excited for him.

 

[4HppyCamprs]

We have a regular savings account for emergencies, vacations, whatnot. This is something extra he wanted to do. I am very excited for him.

I think it sounds more fun than my automatic transfers to savings glad your hubby has found a fun way to save extra

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[gracie1]

We have a regular savings account for emergencies, vacations, whatnot. This is something extra he wanted to do. I am very excited for him.

His christmas savings jar will definitely come in handy at christmas if he does this all year

 

[Elleshoodat]

I've seen this posted a number of times, too. Every time that I see it, I wonder if the people who are so excited about it are just mathematically challenged? Sure, it sounds easy to put $1 or $2 aside each week. Heck, most people can even do $20/week without missing it. It's the later part of the plan that gets difficult. You know...the last 3 months where you end up saving $170, $186, and $202 respectively. How easy is that going to be? Just how much would you have in your savings if you quit after 6 months? The answer is only $351! You have to save nearly $1000 in the last 6 months if you follow this plan!

I think that if you can find room in your budget to save $50+/week, then why not do it from the beginning? At least you would have a good start to your savings when you have the most enthusiasm for doing it. If you only make it to 6 months, you would have $1300 saved.

This is why I don't use that savings plan. I need more balance to my budget.

But OP, if your husband is happy and you're happy, great. Every little bit helps.

 

[MickeyManiac]

I've seen this posted a number of times, too. Every time that I see it, I wonder if the people who are so excited about it are just mathematically challenged? Sure, it sounds easy to put $1 or $2 aside each week. Heck, most people can even do $20/week without missing it. It's the later part of the plan that gets difficult. You know...the last 3 months where you end up saving $170, $186, and $202 respectively. How easy is that going to be? Just how much would you have in your savings if you quit after 6 months? The answer is only $351! You have to save nearly $1000 in the last 6 months if you follow this plan!

I think that if you can find room in your budget to save $50+/week, then why not do it from the beginning? At least you would have a good start to your savings when you have the most enthusiasm for doing it. If you only make it to 6 months, you would have $1300 saved.

I chose to do this backwards. My biggest deposits were in January and by December I will only have to save $15 for the entire month.

I'm doing this savings plan in addition to my regular savings plan. I've made it into a game to see if I can cut junk spending out in the amount of the weeks deposit.

I say ANYTHING that can gives someone extra initative to save more is a great plan.

 

[keri125]

I chose to do this backwards. My biggest deposits were in January and by December I will only have to save $15 for the entire month.

I'm doing this savings plan in addition to my regular savings plan. I've made it into a game to see if I can cut junk spending out in the amount of the weeks deposit.

I say ANYTHING that can gives someone extra initative to save more is a great plan.

This is the suggestion I've heard too, that you get the bigger parts out of the way while you're still enthusiastic and excited about the plan. Then as the enthusiasm starts to peter out you are only having to save a minimal amount. I like the plan - haven't done it, but it sounds great!

To the OP - I agree, it's great when your significant other steps in to help out on their own, no matter how it's done!!

 

[4HppyCamprs]

I chose to do this backwards. My biggest deposits were in January and by December I will only have to save $15 for the entire month.

I'm doing this savings plan in addition to my regular savings plan. I've made it into a game to see if I can cut junk spending out in the amount of the weeks deposit.

I say ANYTHING that can gives someone extra initative to save more is a great plan.

I like the idea of getting the big chunk out of the way in the first few months. Great idea!

Some people are just so so negative about everything they do not see value in personally. It is okay to keep some of that negativity in and not post.

I am sure that the majority of people know how I save the regular old way. It is not that much fun and extra savings for whatever comes in handy. If you quit halfway through you still saved more than if you did nothing at all.

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[RitaE]

It is one of those ideas that most people will have to adapt to fit their own circumstances.

For us it is much easier to save the big amounts at the end of the year because that is when we hit the Soc Sec ceiling and quit paying that tax.

I right now have $21 in the savings account I'm using for it because I started at $1 at the beginning of the year. It is just supposed to be a fun challenge to see if you can accomplish it, not a solution to all the world's problems. Yeah, it isn't a huge amount but I have $21 in a savings account that I didn't have before so whatever.

 

[Julylady]

I think the $1, $2, $3 a week at the beginning are reasonable. However, realistically, I could not set aside the amounts for Nov - Dec and still meet my financial obligations. A twist on this plan is to create a chart with the amounts in the first column. Then, each week pick an amount that fits your budget for that week. For example, on the week you get your income tax return back or a reimbursement check, pick one of the larger amounts. For the weeks you don't get a paycheck, pick a lower amount.

Personnally, I put aside $20 a week in an envelope I keep in a my "important papers" drawer. I use this cash twice a year when I go on vacation. Its typically about $250 that helps with food, tips for bellman, etc.

Whatever motivates you to save is a good thing!

 

[DawnM]

I would much rather save $115 per month in an ING account. Automatic deposit, I don't see it in my bank account, and won't miss it.

 

[kkmcan]

I think I'm going to do $100 per month for Christmas funds. That means by Oct I'll have $1000 and that's huge to have that towards xmas. I kind of did a Christmas savings a few years ago and just put in whatever random amounts I could and I still ended up with $500.

I need to play catch up a bit since I just now decided to do this! Luckily its no biggie. I'll get out the $100 from the ATM and then in 2 weeks I'll get out another $100 for Feb.

 

[BernardandMissBianca]

I'm doing it too. I started backwards as well.
But I'm thinking of dipping into it. I'm 1/2 way to saving up enough to pay off a credit card so I'm thinking when I have enough to pay it off I'll go ahead and do that, then start over.

 

[GaSleepingBeautyFan]

I think it's great.

I have the savings I do for us but it would never occur to my husband that he could save some too.

 

[Marionnette]

We have a regular savings account for emergencies, vacations, whatnot. This is something extra he wanted to do. I am very excited for him.

Well, that's great that you have regular savings accounts. But that doesn't change the fact that this savings method is inherently flawed for even the "extras". You seem to be very excited that your husband will have saved $1326 by the week before Christmas if he sticks with it. How excited will you be when those large deposits come out of your budget from Halloween until then?

I just hate to see someone, who is new to saving, set themselves up for failure. It takes less discipline to set up automatic savings deposits of $26.50 per week than it does to consciously increase your savings by $1 every week. By the time you lose your interest in saving, the automatic savings have taken hold and you aren't missing the money. When you have to increase the amount you set aside each week, you are constantly reminded of how much more you have to give up to meet your goal. At the end of one year, both methods end up with the same balance. But the guy he started out saving $26.50 per week is more likely to stick with it than the guy who has to figure out how he is going to come up with $45-$52 per week in the final months of the year.

 

[timmac]

I just hate to see someone, who is new to saving, set themselves up for failure. It takes less discipline to set up automatic savings deposits of $26.50 per week than it does to consciously increase your savings by $1 every week. By the time you lose your interest in saving, the automatic savings have taken hold and you aren't missing the money. When you have to increase the amount you set aside each week, you are constantly reminded of how much more you have to give up to meet your goal. At the end of one year, both methods end up with the same balance. But the guy he started out saving $26.50 per week is more likely to stick with it than the guy who has to figure out how he is going to come up with $45-$52 per week in the final months of the year.

Though I would argue that different things work for different people, I kind of have to agree with the above. I think it will be interesting towards the end of the year to see how many people who start these things actually follow through with them.