12 ways to save $500 for the holidays

Act now to keep Christmas jolly.

The holidays may seem a ways off, but with Labor Day past, summer vacations behind us and autumn activities beckoning, the urgency grows.

Saving just a dollar a day could make you $100 richer by Christmas.

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Saving up an extra $500 will add to your festivities while keeping holiday debt hangover at bay.

Put $35 a week away now and you'll have $525 by Christmas, just 15 weeks away. If you stash $50 a week, you'll have $550 by Black Friday, a mere 11 weeks away.

By contrast, if you charge $500 in holiday purchases on a credit card with a typical 15 percent interest rate, and pay only a minimum of $20 a month, it will take you two years and seven months to be rid of this year's holiday debt, according to online payment calculators. By then, you will have repaid more than $600, including more than $100 in interest that could have been used instead to invest.

We think you'll agree that saving ahead of time is a better choice. Here are 12 ways to make it happen:

How to save hundreds for the holidays:

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