Nothing says stressful like the holidays. It is the happiest time of year, but also the most stressful. You have presents to buy and wrap, parties to plan, dinners to cook, mingle with family and you have to do this all with a big smile on your face. Well, that’s the goal at least. It just seems like during Thanksgiving, Hanuka, Christmas and New Years we need more hours than what are available. The saying goes, too much to do so little time. To help you get better prepared for the holidays I have compiled my Top 8 ways to get you organized for the holidays.
- Start Your Holiday Saving Early: Sure you’ve thought about doing this but do you ever implement it? Probably not. I know I never did until one year I made myself do it and my life was no where near as stressed out as it usually was this time of year. What I started doing was right around September / October I saved a little money out of each paycheck. I usually tried to save about $50, but even if it was only $10, it was something. Then by the end of October, early November I already had a little bit of money put away to start shopping. It wasn’t the usual scrambling for money 2 weeks before Christmas. If you would like to be even more prepared than this, you can set up a Christmas Savings account where you deposit money all year long and not ever have to worry about “how are you going to afford Christmas this year?”
- Make A List And Start Your Holiday Shopping Now: Just like saving, shopping early is better. Write everyone’s name down that you intend on buying a present for and write next to their name how much you are budgeting for that individual. I usually keep this information on a simple spreadsheet or on my iPhone so I always have it with me. Then as you come across specific gifts you’d like to get someone on your list you can deduct the amount you spent from the amount of money you budgeted for that person. Once you’ve purchased all the gifts or met your budget requirements for that person you can cross them off your list. If you start doing this in early November you will easily have most of your holiday shopping taken care of before the crowds hit the store. This not only saves you time but it helps keep you within your budget. You have more time to figure out what you want to get someone and to shop around for the best price.
- Prepare Your Dinner Menu: We all know the holidays are coming; it’s not a big surprise, so get a jump start on the dinner menu. If you do a traditional dinner, this will be pretty easy. If you like to change it up each year and generally get peoples input, start asking now. The sooner you get a jump start on this the easier it will be to execute. Take advantage of all the sales that are coming up and purchase as much as you can ahead of time. It will be a lot easier on the wallet if you buy little things here and there rather than one big shopping trip and trying to battle the crowds. If you are going to try new Thanksgiving or Christmas recipes you can start doing some trial dinners now to learn how to make them. Put all these particular items away in a separate cupboard or in part of your pantry that’s designated just for holiday food. Make sure to instruct those wondering hands and mouths around the house that whatever is in here is off limits. Anything that you can cook ahead of time and freeze, do so.
- Buy Back-Up Gifts: There always seems to be that awkward situation every year where someone got you a Christmas gift and you have nothing to give back. A great way to avoid this situation is to buy a few stock gifts ahead of time. They don’t have to be much, a simple gift card to a popular coffee place or Movie Theater, boxes of candy, a nice Christmas ornament, or any of the cool little gift sets that most stores come out with just for the holidays. All of these items are usually around $10-15 and that way if someone shows up at work or on your door step with a gift for you and you would like to give something in return you are well prepared.
- Have A Decorating Party: Decorating the house is a lot of fun and really gets you into the spirit, but it can be very time consuming. Try having a decorating party. Tell some of your friends and family members that you will be having a decorating party and you will provide drinks and snacks and you’re decorating will get done a lot quicker. This will be a good chance to hang out with the ones you love and everyone gets in the holiday spirit. If you are very particular about where things should go or how they should be put up, assign those particular tasks to someone specific. If you want to try something new with your Christmas decorating this year, ask your friends to bring over any Christmas decorations they are no longer using and try swapping decorations. It will not only give you a fresh new look this Christmas, but you will both save money.
- Plan Your Dinner Appearances: If you have a significant other or have more than one dinner to go to on Thanksgiving or Christmas, start the conversation early about what your plans will be. Everyone always wants you at their house but sometimes it doesn’t always work out that way. I know this all too well. There has to be compromise from everyone otherwise it turns into a very stressful situation and can cause a lot of tension during the holidays. If both dinners are at the same time I will attend one family dinner and the other family dinner we will show up after to mingle. Then next year, we switch. I have even worked it out where one year we attended Christmas breakfast with one family and Christmas dinner with the other, and again, next year we switched. If you start these conversations early with all parties involved you can get all the kinks worked out early.
- Buy Your Christmas Party Outfit Now: If there is anything that I loathe its having to shop last minute for an outfit to go somewhere. Having to run around to 20 different stores just to end up settling for something because it’s the best of the worst. It’s frustrating. Usually around November stores start having a lot of sales, so start shopping for your Christmas party dress or outfit now, especially if you are going to get more than one. It will save you time, you won’t panic and when you get invited to that last minute Christmas Party you’re significant other forgot to tell you about, you will already be prepared.
- Plan Your Christmas Party: If you are having your own Christmas party or New Years Party, you are going to want to get a big head start as they take time and money to coordinate. Start by preparing the guest list and sending out invitations as early as possible. A lot of people have parties this time of year so if you want to have more at your party, be the first to get your invitations out. Determine if you are going to have the party catered or if you will be cooking all the food. This way you can start getting catering quotes or start buying the food early. Start writing down a list of all the party supplies you are going to need because as time goes on you are bound to forget something. Start researching all the different types of Christmas games that are out there and figure out which ones will be best suitable for your party. No one wants to have a dull party, so if you need to liven up the party a little bit you will already have some Christmas games prepared.
I hope that these 8 tips will come in handy for you and help keep this holiday season a stress free season. As you can tell, the earlier you start preparing the better it is for you and your sanity.
