A few years back, all the banks around here had what they called "Christmas Club" accounts. You agreed to put a certain amount of money in the account each month depending on how much you wanted to have saved by the 1st of December. In reality, it was just a savings account with a special name, yet it helped people budget for Christmas in the days before everyone had a wallet full of credit cards. This coming year, I'm going to start my own little Christmas Club account within our family budget. I've never truly budgeted for Christmas expenses before, but based on the pinch I'm feeling in our budget this year, it's time that I start planning for the expense throughout the year.
I didn't used to budget either because I got a great Christmas bonus, but now I feel it more because I work for myself.
