Preparing For Christmas Made-Easy: 9 Ways To Plan Ahead
With the holidays approaching, life can get hectic. You have so much on your to-do list, so many things to remember, a full social calendar, parties, dinners, and so very many gifts to get for friends and family!
Of course, with all these things destined to pile up on your plate, it’s certainly the time of year when we need to start thinking about planning ahead! Particularly when preparing for Christmas, I’ve found that staying organized is the only thing that keeps my life on track.
Otherwise, I tend to become quite forgetful or swing in the direction of feeling completely overwhelmed and weighed down by stress. Tell me…Can you relate??
Unfortunately, when in a state of frazzled, overwhelm, we miss out on the opportunity to truly enjoy the holidays with our loved ones! We end up losing the very essence and spirit of the holiday, as well as those valuable, precious, and most memorable moments.
So, if Christmas always sneaks up on you and you often find yourself thoroughly swept up in all the holiday chaos, we’ve got nine ways to help you prepare, stay organized, and plan ahead!
Check out these next tips, so you can relax, have some fun, and enjoy a completely worry-free Christmas this year!
PRO Tip: Now, if you want to seriously be on top of your game this holiday season, you can try to tackle all nine of our tips. However, even if you only try two or three this year, you’ll notice that your holidays go a whole lot smoother.
Tip 1: If Money Is Tight, Start By Creating A Holiday Budget
Is money stressing you out? Do you need to be a bit more frugal this Christmas? If so, it’s essential to plan by creating a holiday budget. In fact, you can even get started on this as early as late October or early November if you’d like.
You want to establish your spending limits and the perimeters you’re going to be working with. Think about everything you spend money on during the holidays, from travel to Christmas meals, gifts, cards, decorations, and supplies. Write it all down. This will give you a full picture of your expenses for the holidays to better manage your money.
RELATED POST: How To Save Money During The Holidays: 7 Easy As Pie Ways!
Tip 2: Create A Gift Ideas List In Early November
One effective way to keep the holidays stress-free and easy is to start getting organized with gifting. Take all the names in your head and put them down on paper. Begin thinking about what each person may like or want and write those ideas down next to their name.
A good time to start this list is the first or second week of November. This way, you’ll already have some ideas for people and be ready when a sale rolls around, or you spot a good deal (Black Friday & Cyber Monday, etc.). It also gives you enough time to find out the sizes or preferences of your gift recipients.
In addition, preparing in advance like this will help ensure you don’t miss anyone and have enough Christmas gifts to go around. Once you’ve made your list, start looking for gifts and continue to use it to keep track of who’s gifts you’ve gotten vs. those you still need to get.
Need some gift ideas? We have some gift guides to help!
Tip 3: Put Together Your Christmas Card Checklist In Early November
Are you sending out holiday cards this year? Who will you be mailing them to? Think of everyone in your professional life and personal life and jot them down. You want to start planning your Christmas cards in early November.
Go through your address book and emails to help jog your memory on people so you don’t forget anyone. Also, think about who usually sends you cards each year. Make sure you add their names as well.
Next to each name, create a separate column that you’ll use for checkmarks once their card has been sent. Optional: You could also add a third column for received (see image below). Once your list of names is complete, you’ll know how many cards, envelopes, and stamps you’ll need.
Tip 4: Go Through Last Years Decorations & Begin Sorting In Mid To Late November
Around the middle to late November, you want to start unpacking boxes and storage containers from last year’s decorations. This way, you can figure out what you need, what you have, and what’s broken.
If you have a particular theme or color palette in mind for this year’s decorations, you’ll want to start sorting your decorations based on that. Are you sticking to a white and silver palette this year? Silver and gold? Is your tree going to have lights and balls mainly, or will you include holiday figurines and candy canes?
Tip 5: Pull Together Your Gifting Supplies In Late November
Around late November, like the 21st or 22nd, you can aim to start pulling together your gifting supplies and making sure you have everything you’ll need like wrapping paper, bags, baskets, ribbons, bows, tags, tape, scissors, etc. Anything you need more of or are missing, make a list of those items so you can start shopping for them. This is also the perfect time to order your holiday cards.
Tip 6: Track Your Orders As You Start Buying Gifts
Whether you start shopping in early or late November (with Black Friday & Cyber Monday deals), keeping track of your online gifts is vital!
Recently after getting a new puppy and awaiting his arrival, I found myself desperately needing a way to keep up with the many puppy supplies I ordered. With so many packages coming in, I was inspired to create a package tracker.
Not only did I want to keep track of if everything I ordered arrived, but I wanted to keep tabs on when too. Since living in the times of COVID, I’d heard that the safest option with packages was to wait seven days before opening, to bring items into your home. So, whenever a package arrived, I’d put it in the garage and try to allow about seven days to pass.
Now, I doubt you have a new puppy arriving soon; however, you’ll likely be ordering many online gifts in the coming weeks. So, to make life easier, I’m sharing my Packages Tracker, now redesigned with the Christmas holiday in mind!!
GET THE FREE HOLIDAY PACKAGES TRACKER BELOW!!
Just print it out, fill it in, and keep track of all your online shopping orders!! You can keep tabs on what has vs. what hasn’t arrived yet. And of course, with people swiping packages from doorsteps during the holidays, this tracker is an absolute MUST!!
Tip 7: Begin Saving Recipes You Want To Try For Holiday Meals In Late November
From Late November on (around the last week of November), begin thinking about your holiday meals for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Will you stick to your usual recipes, or have you been itching to try some new dishes? Perhaps, you want to do a bit of both this year? Now’s the perfect time to start saving or pinning any new recipes that spark your interest.
PRO Tip: Once you decide on a new recipe or two, make sure you give them a quick run-through. You should try and test them out in advance to be safe.
RELATED POST: 15 Mouth-Watering Holiday Cookie Recipes To Try This Season
Tip 8: Plan Your Holiday Meals In Early December
Around the first or second week of December, you want to make an effort to nail down your holiday meals (meals for Christmas Eve & Christmas Day). Get it all down on paper, writing what you want to prepare for the main course, sides, appetizers, beverages, and desserts. (See the below image for an example. There is more info at the end of this article as well)
This will help you determine which items & ingredients you’ll need for your grocery shopping list. Plus, if any guests have dietary restrictions, you can use this time to figure out any substitutes.
*If you’re preparing some new dishes for Christmas, it’s best to make a note of what’s needed for those recipes now.
Tip 9: Prepare Your Grocery Shopping List 2 Weeks Before Christmas
About two weeks before Christmas is an excellent time to start preparing your grocery shopping list. Grab the paper you used for Tip #8 and think about the ingredients you’ll need for all the dishes listed. Write these things down under a second column labeled grocery list.
It’s also a good idea to use this period to think about which things you might cook a few days prior and freeze vs. those things you’d need to cook the day of.
Preparing For Christmas & The Holidays Wrap-Up!!
Well, Beauties, that about sums it up! I hope you found these tips helpful and use them this year as you begin planning and preparing for Christmas. If you can implement all nine ways, fabulous, but if not, don’t beat yourself up; just aim for 2 or 3, and you’ll undoubtedly see an improvement. Happy Holidays!! Enjoy this time with family and friends!!
Do you need more help staying stress-free & organized for the holiday season? Perhaps, you need a holiday checklist to stay on top of things and avoid the frazzle & chaos the holidays bring.
Check out our Christmas Holiday Planner To Help Make Your Holidays Run Smooth As Pudding This Year!!
Not only will you get a helpful Holiday Checklist so you can stay on track with your tasks and to-dos, but you’ll also get printables to help you with Tips # 1-3, 6, 8, and 9 from this article!! Keep scrolling for a list of everything that’s included!!
This Christmas Holiday Planner Printable Bundle includes 17 pages consisting of the following:
- Christmas Holiday Planner Cover
- Holiday Checklist With Suggested Dates For Completing Each Task (2 pages)
- Holiday Budget Planner (3 pages)
- Holiday Card Checklist For All Your Card Recipients (3 pages)
- Holiday Gift Ideas List (3 pages)
- Holiday Packages Tracker To Keep Track Of All Your Online Orders & Purchases (3 pages)
- Holiday Meal Planner & Grocery Shopping List (2 pages)
Click Here For More Info & To See Photos Of Everything Included In The Christmas Holiday Planner!!
More Holiday-Related Articles & Resources:
- How To Save Money During The Holidays: 7 Easy As Pie Ways!
- How To Pamper Yourself Like A Queen This Holiday Season!
- The 32 Best Pampering & Self-Care Gift Ideas For Women
- The Ultimate List Of Beauty Gifts For Her She’ll Never Return!!
- Best Health & Fitness Gifts For Her: 26 Most Popular Wellness Gift Ideas
Great ideas, the holidays really can be stressful. I will bookmark this for next year! Thank you for sharing.
Yes, they certainly can be!! These will help…glad you enjoyed it!!