Ours is a multicultural and multi-religious society, but there's something to the holiday season that goes beyond origin or creed. There's a biological imperative that humans, in the deep of winter, recuse themselves from the cold: in old days, families and whole villages lived in very close quarters for months at a time. Wise leaders in those communities strove to organize festive occasions in the deepest time of winter. They gave people something different and important to do; those festivities, with time, became their own rewards. This is why so many religions had the commonality of mid-winter celebrations.

The holidays today

In a modern, consuming society, these holidays remain: we have an instinctual need to gather, enjoy and bring joy to others. Be it in presents, decorations, or entertainment, everyone will have extra expenses in the next three months.

The Holiday Club

Today we will tell you about a Credit Union account that's a life saver when thinking of the holiday expenses. The Holiday Club Account is a special program created to help you save for those extra financial needs at the end of the year.

How it works

You usually start it in December. You can decide an amount that you want to save for the holidays next year. So, say you want to have $600. As you'll be saving for a whole year, you only need to set aside $50 a month (as $50 x 12 = $600). You open the account, set up a $50 automatic monthly transfer to it, that's it. You forget about it.

Next year, around Thanksgiving, the Credit Union liquidates your Club account –you may elect to keep it open for future years- and deposits your $600 plus dividends in your savings account.

Win-win

You'll love this account. The extra cash at the end of the year helps you budget your shopping in a way that integrates normal and holiday expenses without guilt, and without breaking the bank.

The conditions

In order to motivate you to stick to your plan, the account has a few rules. It earns a better dividend rate than Regular Share accounts. However, you cannot make a withdrawal or close it early: if you do, you forfeit the dividends accrued on it for the active accrual cycle.

Little peeps love it

This account works for kids, too. Once they understand that a small allowance cut that'll likely forget will translate into a nice chunk of money next year, they'll want to try it out! The added benefit is that your child will also learn about saving. The Club Account will get them on the way to proper money management skills, something that's good for life.