Brown Bag it.  Most working people will spend $5 to $8 per work day on a purchased lunch.  If they hit the snack or soda machine during breaks, they will spend an additional $25 a month.  The average price of a home made lunch, snacks, and beverages is just under $3 per day.  You’ll save over $500 in a year!  Children’s school lunches are often competitively priced.  Make sure you’ll save on their lunches before switching them.  Every time you take a lunch from home, put $2 in your tin.

Don’t feel like cooking dinner?  Instead of going for fast food, have breakfast for dinner.  Cold cereal, toaster waffles, eggs, bagels, or whatever you would normally have for breakfast makes a great evening meal.  Cooking is limited or nonexistent, and you’ve just saved about $5 per person.  Put the savings in the tin.  Next time you do feel like cooking.. make double portions and freeze half.  That way, you’ll have a meal ready to thaw, zap and serve for another on of those “don’t want to cook” days.  From now on, every time you substitute a trip out for fast food, put $5 in the tin per family member.

Gas prices aren’t getting any cheaper.  Have a family meeting and brainstorm ways the family could save on gas.  You’ve probably made resolutions to get more exercise too.  Encourage everyone to make those short trips on foot or on a bike.  Whenever you or a family member make a small sacrifice to avoid a car trip, drop a dollar in your Christmas fund tin.

Make sure you are participating in your companies 401k or 403b or other retirement plans.  This is FREE money! You wouldn’t walk down the street and ignore a $50 bill laying on the road.  You’d pick it up.  And yet, many people don’t enroll in company matched retirement funds.  If you have never participated, start now with at least 2% .  At that rate most of you will not even notice a decrease in take home pay.  Some of you may even see more take home.  If you are currently participating, increase your contribution by at least 2% a year until you are maxed out.

Review your tax withholding amount at work.  Are you over or under withholding.  If you get a large refund each year you are over withholding.  If you owe more than a couple hundred dollars each year, you are under withholding.  Why give the government use of your money when just a little effort could help you build interest bearing savings, or pay down credit card debt.  If you do reduce your withholding, calculate the difference you will have in your take home pay.  Do not spend that money.  Put at least half of it into a savings account for a possible year end tax payment.  Use the balance to pay off credit card debt.