The holidays are the busiest time of year, according to, well, everyone! Here are some practical tips to help your family stay organized and sane this Christmas season.
Plan everything in advance
Plan gifts ahead of time. If you can, figure out what you’re getting for everyone a few weeks in advance. This allows you to browse for deals, including Black Friday and Cyber Monday deals.
Set one day aside to wrap everything while everyone else is out of the house. Doing this all at once will make your life feel a lot less busy and take one thing off of your to-do list.
Set one day aside to decorate as a family. Christmas decorating is a favorite tradition for many families, and kids have a blast decorating the tree, baking cookies, and watching Dad spend hours untangling the lights.
Schedule holiday photos over a month in advance to give proper time for editing and card/photo processing. If you get a family photo every year, it’s a good idea to schedule it at least a month in advance with your photographer. They have busy family lives too, and their schedule is filling up just as quickly as yours. Having these done weeks in advance of Christmas allows for plenty of time to edit the photos, pick out holiday cards, and send them out to everyone before December 25.
Make travel plans ahead of time. If you fly every year, schedule it sooner rather than later. The flight will be cheaper, hotels will be cheaper, and you can make arrangements with ease if you do it before everyone else does. On top of that, you can make arrangements for young ones and pets at home if you need to without any last-minute stress.
Coordinate meal planning ahead of time. If your family does buffet-style dinners, you can know what you’re bringing ahead of time and plan in advance. You can go shopping in advance, make sure you have all of the ingredients, and plan your schedule around baking the ham. Staying organized this holiday season will make it easier on everyone.
Budget Your Holiday Spending
Set and stick to a holiday budget. Decide how much you’re going to spend on each person, décor, cards, travel, charity, etc. This not only helps keep your holiday spending in check, it also allows you to keep your organizing consistent every year. Also, if you need to save up for presents or travel, you can know how much you need to save up and prepare for it.
Have more tips? Drop them in the comments!
Happy Holidays,
Sparkle & Shine Cleaning