Any high interest savings account should be effective.

I used to use Castle Hamperking and Chrisco but have figured out it’s better to buy or pay off giftcards through the year and shop for things when they are on sale…mylayby does giftcards for any time of year delivery.

I have a coin jar and empty all my gold coins into it. Doesn’t take long to fill and have a few spare couple of hundred

For presents, I tend to lay by throughout the year. For food and last minute gifts, I just have a money jar. I add at least $5 a week to it. By Xmas it’s a nice little pot of gold

A friend of mine picked a bank which gave her the highest interest rate for her Christmas Club bank account and has had it for many years. I think that’s a good idea because the rates are higher than in general and only allows you 1-2 withdraws for that year which is a good discpline measure too.

I never thought about doing this, but it’s inspiring to read what you girls are doing. I just usually buy gifts throughout the year when I see something what really suits a person, that way spreading costs and pressure.

The $5 note challenge is a good one . every $5 note you get ,tuck it away , dont spend it. Its really surprising how quickly they build up !

Thanks Taynik46 for the long and informative and helpful answer. I am looking at new ways to save for Christmas and holidays and love your ideas and challenges. Absolutely right – everything and anything you want to do starts today! Best wishes for the New Year.

I have two accounts with two banks separate to my main account – to fund these I do online surveys and deposit anything I get from doing the surveys into those accounts. I also transfer any “change” at the end of the day from my main accounts into the xmas ones ie: if I had 25.25 I would transfer the 0.25 at the end of the day.

I also use woolworths and coles rewards cards and find that I can usually use points to purchase groceries at christmas time – I don’t always utilise the special offers but I just plod along doing my normal weekly shops and it helps at the end of the year

You could also do the $2coin coke bottle challenge and the $5 note challenge and the 52week money challenge as well – if you google these you will find all the info

The 52 week one is putting a designated amount away each week (highly recommend switching it round though so the first week you put away the $52, then at dec your last week is only a $1 – once you google it you will understand.

The $5 challenge is to save any $5 notes you get in your change and not spend them, same as the $2 coke bottle one – you put the $2 into a coke bottle (600ml) and you end up with I think it is nearly $2k at the end of that one

Good luck with your christmas savings, today is a great day to start!