Christmas is 77 days away. Are you prepared? It’s not too late to start saving a little toward Christmas if you haven’t already. I have one person’s gift already but I also have a savings account with my Christmas money in it. At the beginning, of the year I decide to save a set amount each pay period. Most weeks of the year I add to my Christmas savings; except for the time right around a vacation. Then I use the money for extra spending money on the trip. I base my savings on 40 weeks of the year or 20 pay periods. It may be more but if I make the minimum amount of weeks 40 then I have a nice amount saved.

If you save $25 a week for 40 weeks, you have $1000. This can be done painlessly if you have the money automatically deposited into a savings account. Or, just consider the amount you save as a bill you have to pay. When the interest rates were abysmally low, I kept my money in a jar in the closet. Now that the rates are higher, I put my Christmas fund in an online bank and it earns a little interest.

Yes, it’s already October and online stores are making their push to get the early shoppers ready for Christmas but you can still save a little money so you won’t have the January credit card blues. If you saved $25 for the next 10 weeks at least, you would have $250. That may not cover all of your Christmas gifts but it will at least make it easier to pay a little at a time rather than just everything all at once.

If you have money saved for Christmas, think about a spending plan before you shop. How much do you want to spend on each person? You can make a plan that helps you figure out the maximum amount that you would spend or a range for each person on your list. This may seem calculating and cold but it is the gift that counts. Giving a wonderful, over the top, gift may seem magnanimous at the time but if you can’t afford it you won’t be so happy about your generosity later. When in doubt a gift card or cash also works, that way you aren’t exceeding your spending limit.

When I see something I can use as a gift, I buy it. I once bought a leather bag originally priced at more than one hundred dollars that was reduced and I was able to use a coupon and additional discount to get the price to about $18 including tax. I bought a bag like it for myself in a different color. The gift was well appreciated by the recipient; even though I didn’t know who was going to be recipient when I bought it.

Don’t wait to do your shopping until a certain time of year. One year I had 75% of my shopping done by August. Sometimes I buy gifts with no particular person in mind but know that I can use the gift. There are times when you can’t budget all of your purchases. You may participate in a Secret Santa at work or decide to give money to a charity. These extras may add up but can be held to a reasonable amount and will be less than if you started planning late.