Does the decline of the Christmas Club indicate something larger about society? An older co-worker was discussing her Christmas Club and Vacation Club accounts for savings. It’s the same principle as my Vacation Fund, but it is kind of like a CD in that you can’t access it until a certain date. Anyway, it got me thinking about the lack of Christmas Clubs among myself and my peers. I can think of only two incidents when I’ve come across Christmas Clubs-on an episode of the Golden Girls, and in the pamphlet for a credit union I was eligible to join at my high school retail job. I’m wondering-does the lack of a Christmas Club in my generation’s consciousness indicate something about our attitude with money? Is the typical under-30 more inclined to reach for the credit card rather than a Christmas Club? Would we be better savers if ING or HSBC offered a hip cyber high-interest Christmas Club?
How about you? Do you have a Christmas Club?
Penny For My Thoughts
A Personal Finance log
6 responses so far ↓
1 Kristen // Jul 2, 2008 at 8:31 am
Nope. I’ve never had one. I have my own little savings account that I use for gift giving in general, and I have about $20 from each paycheck going into it. After our vacation in July I’ll bump it up for Christmas.
2 Aleksie // Jul 2, 2008 at 4:21 pm
I never even heard of that concept before
3 Amy // Jul 2, 2008 at 10:36 pm
I’ve never heard of it either! It sounds fun though… how does it work??
4 Revanche // Jul 3, 2008 at 10:48 am
This is the first year I’ve had anything close to one: my travel fund doubles as a vacation and gift fund.
It was also funded by a “large” chunk of money rather than steadily through the year, but I’m working on that now.
5 Janet // Jul 3, 2008 at 7:30 pm
Heather, I have had a Christmas Club every year for about 3 years now. I love it. The money gets transferred every paycheck and then November 1st they send it to me and I do my major Christmas Shopping or I hold it and do my shopping on Black Friday. No credit cards and I don’t miss the money on a monthly basis.
6 cate // Jul 6, 2008 at 8:21 pm
I don’t have a Christmas Club per say but I do have an “envelope” under my main ING Direct account that I have designated as Christmas funds and that is what I use each December for gifts. I just do a direct deposit each pay period to fund it and it takes the sting out of Christmas shopping each year. It’s not perfect but it covers alot.
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