One way to save for items such as appliances is to buy gift cards. I am soon planning on replacing my dryer, and each month I am buying a gift card to go towards it. We buy all our appliances at Lowe's, so I am buying a $25-$50 card each month.
That way I am protected from spending that money on something else. If I was unsure of where I would buy an item, I would probably get a Visa gift card that could be used anywhere, or a prepaid card from my bank that has no activation fees.
Check your state laws first. In my state, Missouri, gift cards can not expire or be deducted from monthly. (In other states they can).
This is also a great way to save up for Christmas. You can either give the recipient the gift card, or spend it yourself on their gifts.
Store your gift cards in your safety deposit box so you don't loose them to theft or fire, or simply through being misplaced.
By mom-from-missouri from NW Missouri
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In our area we have Giant Eagle grocery stores which give you .10 discounts on gas for every 50.00 spent on gift cards. When I was going to buy my freezer at Sears, I bought the gift cards for the amount of the freezer and got quite a discount on my gas.
Unless there is some bonus to the gift card thing, why don't you just put the money in your safety deposit box? I can see why you don't just leave it in the bank- too tempting. But surely storing it in the safe deposit would be enough to keep you from spending it on something ahead of time.
Excellent idea! Wish I had known about this long ago! From now on I will purchase a ten dollar gift card every time I go shopping! Thank you!
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