Defeated.
The only thing worse than a New Year’s Eve party that ended with shattered glass and a hole in my parent’s wall was having my Mint.com account laugh in my face come 2009 - sure, I spent the latter part of 2008 cautiously watching every penny that left my wallet, but then came Christmakkah. All of the painful sacrifices I made, including pledging to go a year without buying clothes (which is still going well, by the way) were worthless because I drained my bank account on presents. I don’t mean to sound selfish, I enjoy buying gifts for family and friends, but there are ways to survive the holidays without depleting your savings - I just broke every rule.
So I, like the economy, am starting out the year in a downturn. But I’m getting a head start for next year and I suggest you do the same. It turns out, Christmas Club Savings Account, offered at many local banks or credit unions, are sort of nonsensical because they make almost no interest. But the general idea is easy to replicate, just find yourself a high-interest CD (easier said than done these days, but don’t forget about Bankrate.com) that allows free transactions throughout the maturation period. The only stipulation on you is to actually transfer a part of your paycheck to the CD - the one benefit of the traditional Christmas accounts is that it’s out of your control.
So in light of all this I have a two-part New Year’s resolution: 1) Be able to save money THROUGH the holidays next year, and 2) use that money to pay my parents back for the damage done to their home.
Categories: Debt, Managing money, Saving, Shopping, Student Finance
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