When Terri over at Life+Kids sent out an email, asking for blog posts from frugal folks I instantly wondered why she was emailing me. I’m not frugal, not in the least. Although I love a bargain as much as the next person, I have no patience for coupons and no skill to make something fab out of something from the thrift shop.

However, after thinking about it, I decided to release my money-saving plan for Christmas. Yes, I am talking about Christmas. In March. Hush.

I have spent much of my adult life struggling with Christmas, much like many other people. Why is there never any money for Christmas? Why do I place hundreds of dollars worth of purchases on credit? The past two Christmases have been extra hard for me because El Boyfriend is the frugal one in this house, not me. I like having presents for people, I get my joy from watching someone unwrap something that they really want or something that they wouldn’t have thought of for themselves but is exactly right anyway. So EB watched the bank account dwindle and he stressed out, and I stressed out because he’s stressed out, and hey! Not so Merry Christmas.

Things will be different this year. In January, I decided on an amount of money that I wanted to have available to me by December 1st of this year. I chose this number based on how much money I’d like to have for presents, plus the extra groceries, plus a new tree, and possibly new decorations. Then I divided that chosen number by the number of weeks between January 1st and December 1st, which gave me a weekly dollar amount I have to save. Every Saturday, after work, I count out that amount and set it aside to go into a savings account that I opened specifically for Christmas. It’s very easy for me to do this because of the job I do - I always have cash on hand. I go to the bank once or twice a month and deposit what I’ve accumulated into that account. It’s easy to keep the money in that account because my debit card is not connected to that account, so it’s impossible to make an ATM withdrawal and jeopardize my budget. Also? I got my bank statement today for that account and was pleasantly surprised at the amount there, so I’m also having fun saving this money – who knew?

Another frugal tip I have for the holidays is to buy things out of season. I can be found in the stores two or three days after Christmas looking for things on clearance, like cards, gift wrapping supplies, even decorations. At 75% off? Heck yeah! This also applies to other holidays, not just Christmas. Anything out of season is going to be cheaper than when people actually need to use it. I’m not interested in being trendy, which is also good for my budget. I save money by NOT buying the latest cool thing every year, but favor things that are fairly classic, neutral, or will go with whatever I already have on hand. I also love to look for Christmas shops that are open year ’round and try catching things on sale. Seriously, how many people are shopping for Christmas stuff in June, right?

I don’t know whether anyone will think this is frugal; I think some would say “Hey! Homemade gifts! Very frugal! Make your own decorations! Much more interesting – and cheaper!” I’d love to, but don’t have time nor the skill for it. Doing it this way means that there will be no debt and no concern about being able to pay the normal household bills in December. EB rests easier, therefore, I will rest easier.