Family Balance Sheet host a monthly link up for saving for Christmas. So far I have saved $289.15 out of my goal of $629. Thank goodness for automatic withdrawal. I have been so busy with all my kids activities that I haven't been posting to my blog or balancing my checking accounts. I wrote so many checks this last month I had to start a new run of checks. With my Smart Piggy account, I'm also earning interest, which is free money! I did get a teeny raise at work, which is better than zero so that is also good news. I hope to save $5000 to go towards my debt when my no interest ends, but things keep coming up that are not in the budget. I didn't budget two weddings and two graduations that I have been invited to this year. I need to stick to my budget in May and earn some extra cash. I already know of 1 overtime opportunity it May, and I don't mind working overtime if it will be a decent amount.
There is also a Smart Piggy prepaid card that will add 1% to my savings. It would cost $9.95 for the card but it could help me to control my money. The only time I wouldn't use it would be Target, since I have a Target debit card that gives me a 5% savings. I budget for $30 in gas and $20 in spending for myself a week, not that I've been sticking to it, but it's a goal. 1% would be $.50/week and an extra $26/year. I can also load the card from my savings when I hit my goal in Smart Piggy. Loading the card might be hard though since it does take awhile for the payments to post to my savings, I wonder how long it takes to post to the prepay card.
For May, I need to start thinking about some handmade gifts that I can make for friends and family for the holidays. I love Pinterest and have a Gift Board so I'm going to start there.
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