The spookiness of Halloween will be over soon, but an equally scary statement for many is… November is around the corner already.
I mean, don’t get me wrong, tis’ the season to be jolly!
I LOVE the holidays… my birthday, Thanksgiving, and Christmas all rolled up with chilly weather, hot cocoa, and great company and cheer all around. I’m having so much fun that most of it is over in a blink. of. an. eye.
But for many it can also cause a lot of stress and overwhelm (especially when you’re trying to plan a wedding, or for me the arrival of our third child, at the same time). Right?!
To help you enjoy the most of the holiday season, here’s a printable planner to get you started on the merry path to joy.
Some other things I’m doing to prep for the holidays…
LISTS. Just like a budget for the wedding, create a list of everyone you need gifts for and separate them by groups (more on this in a bit). Add a column for a description of the gift, a column for your estimated budget (per person) and a column for your actual expenditure (so you can keep track of how much money you’re spending). Not only will you feel great about making sure no one is forgotten, but you’ll also feel great filling this out and keeping the list on hand so you don’t duplicate gifts for the following year.
GROUP GIFTS. This is the concept that everyone in a particular sphere of friends gets the same gift. For example, maybe all of your interns gets a cute school/office supply gift, or your church friends get a personalized pouch with a scripture printed on it, or your high school bunch all get a fun GNO (girls night out) basket, or your neighborhood gift baskets are all themed around spaghetti night. It makes it A LOT easier to order 6 of the same thing that everyone in this group might appreciate. Plus, having to think of 6 different gifts is WAY easier than thinking of 36.
PREORDER. This Christmas, I’m taking advantage of preorders and gifts that wrap and ship directly to my recipients. There are a lot of Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals like this where you can pick the ship out date so your gifts get delivered closer to Christmas than to Thanksgiving. It’ll save you lots of time not having to wrap and deliver these gifts yourself – something I’m all about this year with baby coming in early December.
I’d love to hear from you! What tips do you have for a successful holiday season?