A friend texted me last week: "How do you handle Christmas without the money panic every December?"

We'd just been talking about holiday plans, and she mentioned that familiar sinking feeling when November arrives and you realize you haven't budgeted for any of it. Gifts for family back home. Gifts for your partner and kids here. And if you have kids, otoshidama envelopes to prepare for New Year.

Her text hit me because three years ago, I was asking the same question. I'd just opened the January credit card statement showing ¥147,000 in December charges. Christmas gifts for both our families overseas, birthday presents I'd bought throughout November, a few year-end thank-you gifts for Lily's teachers, and otoshidama cash I'd withdrawn for visiting relatives. My wife looked at the statement and asked the question I couldn't answer: "Why do we do this every year? We know Christmas is coming."

She was right. We weren't surprised by Christmas. We just hadn't built a system.

Here's what I learned after calculating our actual annual gift spending: living in Japan as an expat means navigating two complete gift-giving cultures simultaneously. You're not just budgeting for Christmas. You're budgeting for Christmas shipping deadlines in October, birthday gifts throughout the year, Mother's Day and Father's Day gifts sent overseas, and Japan-specific occasions like otoshidama if you have kids or nieces and nephews.

The total for our household? Around ¥140,000 annually. And I'd been treating every gift like a surprise expense instead of a predictable cost I could systematize.

The December cash crunch is universal. But living in Japan adds specific complexity: you're operating in two cultural calendars with different expectations, timelines, and obligations.

Here's what our annual gift calendar looks like:

Christmas (try to nab Black Friday deals): Gifts for both sets of parents, siblings, close friends overseas, plus Lily and my wife. The overseas portion ships by early November to arrive on time. Budget: ¥40,000 to ¥60,000.

Birthdays throughout the year: Both sets of parents, siblings, close friends. Budget: ¥30,000 to ¥40,000 annually.

Mother's Day and Father's Day: Gifts for both sets of parents, sent back home. Budget: ¥10,000 to ¥15,000.

Otoshidama (New Year): Cash envelopes for nieces, nephews, and Lily. Budget: ¥20,000 to ¥30,000.

Year-end thank-you gifts: Small gifts for Lily's teacher, helpful neighbors. Budget: ¥5,000 to ¥10,000.

Annual total: ¥115,000 to ¥165,000. The middle estimate is ¥140,000, which breaks down to ¥11,667 per month if spread evenly.

But we weren't spreading it evenly. We were ignoring it for ten months and panicking for two.

The problem isn't that these gifts are unreasonable. The problem is treating ¥140,000 in predictable annual expenses like they're unexpected emergencies.

After that ¥147,000 credit card conversation, I calculated our actual gift spending for the previous two years. The number was consistent: between ¥135,000 and ¥155,000 annually. Middle point: ¥140,000.

That's ¥11,667 per month if spread evenly. But gifts don't arrive evenly. They cluster.

I found two frameworks. The right one depends on whether you prefer flexibility or predictability.

Framework A: Rolling Gifts Fund

Maintain a standing fund of ¥20,000 to ¥30,000 that covers any gift occasion. When you use it, refill over the following months before the next occasion.

With our ¥140,000 annual total:

Start with ¥25,000 fund. Use ¥12,000 for Mother's/Father's Day in May-June. Refill ¥12,000 over June-September at ¥3,000/month. By October, fund is back to ¥25,000.

October: Use ¥90,000 for Christmas and year-end gifts. Fund is negative, depleted.

November-October (next year): Refill ¥90,000 at ¥8,182/month.

Birthdays pull from the standing fund throughout the year.

Monthly commitment: Variable ¥3,000 to ¥8,182 depending on what you're rebuilding toward.

Best for: People who want flexibility and don't mind adjusting monthly amounts.

Framework B: Target Date Savings

Calculate your largest annual obligation (November-December for most expats), divide by the months before you need it, save that fixed amount automatically.

Same ¥140,000 annual total:

November-December cluster: Christmas ¥70,000 + Year-end gifts ¥8,000 + Otoshidama ¥15,000 + Birthday gifts ¥7,000 = ¥100,000 needed by November 1.

Calculation: ¥100,000 divided by 10 months (January through October) = ¥10,000/month to "Year-End Gifts" account.

Mother's Day / Father's Day: ¥12,000 divided by 12 months = ¥1,000/month.

Birthday scatter fund: ¥28,000 divided by 12 months = ¥2,333/month.

Total fixed monthly commitment: ¥13,333/month.

Monthly commitment: Fixed ¥13,333/month.

Best for: People who want to automate completely and prefer consistent budgeting.

I started with Rolling Fund but switched to Target Date after a year. I kept forgetting to adjust refill amounts. Now I have three purpose-specific accounts at SBI Net Bank, and ¥13,500 auto-transfers on the 26th of every month (one day after payday).

The right system is the one you'll actually use. Both eliminate the December panic.

SBI Net Bank Purpose-Specific Accounts (目的別口座)

SBI lets you create up to 10 separate sub-accounts within your main account, each with its own name and target amount. But this can be done with different bank accounts or within your budgeting application of choice (our beta is coming out soon)!

I have three:

When I log into SBI, I see all three balances separately. Visual progress tracking built into the bank interface.

Setup takes about 10 minutes if you have an SBI account. Create the purpose account, name it, set your target, and schedule automatic monthly transfers from your main account.

Align Transfers with Payday

Japanese salaries typically hit on the 25th. I set my gift fund transfers to auto-execute on the 26th.

Why? Because if the transfer happens before payday, it might bounce. If it happens too long after payday, I've already started spending. One day after payday, the transfer is invisible. The money moves before I've mentally allocated it elsewhere.

My current setup:

I'm going to be honest about what worked.

In January 2023, my wife and I mapped out every gift from the previous year. Total: ¥138,000. We tried the Rolling Fund approach with a ¥25,000 starting balance.

It worked, but it required me to remember to adjust the refill rate. I'm not good at remembering financial adjustments.

In January 2024, I switched to Target Date. Three purpose accounts with ¥13,500/month auto-transfer starting January 26.

By November 2024, the Year-End account had ¥103,200. Christmas shopping felt completely different. I knew exactly how much I could spend. No guilt. No surprise. No January credit card panic.

We're in Year 3 now (2025). The ¥13,500 auto-transfer happens on the 26th. The accounts refill. When gift occasions arrive, the money is there.

My wife doesn't ask "Why do we do this every year?" anymore. We built the system. It runs.

📋 This Week's Actions:

The math is straightforward. You're going to spend ¥115,000 to ¥165,000 on gifts this year whether you plan for it or not. The only question is whether you'll spend it from a dedicated fund you've been building all year, or from your December checking account in a panic.

The system I've described treats gift giving reality as what it is: a predictable annual expense that deserves its own budget line and automated funding.

Over ten years, this system will save you from accumulated stress of treating predictable expenses like emergencies. You'll spend approximately ¥1,400,000 to ¥1,650,000 over that decade on gifts. That money is leaving your household either way. The question is whether it leaves smoothly through a system, or roughly through crisis budgeting every December.

And here's what surprised me most: once the system was running, gift-giving became enjoyable again. When I buy birthday presents for my parents or Christmas gifts for my wife's family, I'm not doing mental math about whether we can afford it. The account says ¥87,000 available. I can spend ¥60,000 on Christmas without guilt. The system gave me permission to be generous within boundaries I'd already set.

That's what systematization (仕組み化) does. It removes emotional volatility from predictable financial commitments and returns those occasions to what they should be: expressions of care, not sources of stress.

Your future December self will thank you for the ¥11,667 you started setting aside this January.

P.S.

Quick win for this week: Open your banking app and create one new savings sub-account. Name it "2026 Gifts Fund." Transfer ¥10,000 into it right now. That's one month of your annual gift budget already handled.

For personalized financial guidance, please consult with qualified Japanese financial advisors who can assess your individual circumstances.

Stay Wealthy

Jason

Building wealth for English-speaking permanent residents in Japan, one story at a time.