It’s day 2 of our Clutter-Free Holiday Countdown — are you excited?
It’s Time to Start Planning:
Are you tired of running around during the holiday season?
Thanksgiving, Christmas, and other holidays are so full of activities; it can be difficult to fit is all in.
So even though you might think the holidays are still far, far away, it’s a great time to start planning ahead to save yourself a bunch of time and stress this year.
Here are a few resources help you start the planning process:
1. Create a Holiday Planner: Create a Simple Holiday Planner to organize all your holiday information in one place — ready to go when you need it {which might just be sooner than you think!}
- Simple Holiday Planner guide from Heart of a Lamb
- Free Holiday printables from Life…YourWay
2. Set a Budget: This is important to have nailed down BEFORE the holidays because it will determine many other aspects of your holiday planning. Not to mention if money is tight, a budget will save you lots of stress.
- Here’s a free printable document to track how much you spend on gifts.
- Head over to MoneySavingMom.com to read about gift-giving on a budget…it can be done!
3. Start Baking: Cook and bake whatever food items you can now and put them in the freezer. You might be surprised how long food stays fresh if it’s properly stored. Then, when you’re invited to a last-minute party, all you have to do is defrost something!
- Start compiling all your favorite holiday recipes using these printable recipe cards from The Tie that Binds
- Check out these simple food gifts from Good Housekeeping
- Here a few other amazing food gifts from Country Living
4. Make Your Lists and Check them Twice: I love lists. They save me so much time and stress…especially during the holidays. Here are a few lists that I keep in my holiday planner {ahem…you really need to make one of those!}
- A list of all the gifts I need to purchase
- A list of projects I need to accomplish before the holidays
- A list of food I want to make
- A list of things I need to buy (besides gifts)
- A mailing list for my holiday cards
- A list of all the parties and events I am attending (make sure to write these on your calendar too)
If you are looking for great holiday planning lists, check out ListPlanIt.com. You do have to pay a small fee for these lists…but there are so many great ones to choose from!
Hopefully this will be enough to jump-start your holiday planning this year. I guarantee that by doing a few small things now, you will save yourself a bunch of time, stress, and money a few months from now.
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