It’s that wonderful time of year again. Well, almost. We’ve got plenty of time before Thanksgiving, but if we get an early start and get through all our holiday prep, we might just have time to sit by the fire, prop up our feet, and sip on our hot cocoa. Sounds good, right? The key is to get organized with a plan.
I’ll have a lot of posts coming soon about preparing for Thanksgiving and Christmas, but for now, let’s start on some early holiday prep. The following is a list of 12 things we can easily start working on.
12 WAYS TO PREPARE NOW FOR THE HOLIDAYS
- Make a master plan and timeline. Make a written plan outlining everything that needs to be done before Thanksgiving and Christmas. Set definite dates and deadlines for everything on your list. I’ll have a special post on my blog next week, describing exactly how to do this.
- Plan Christmas get-togethers with family members, set a date, and have everyone reserve that date. If you do this now, you’ll get your day reserved with everyone before they make other plans.
- Make travel plans, if needed, and get reservations. This is definitely something that needs to be done early. A lot of people travel for the holidays and flights will fill up quickly.
- Plan your Thanksgiving and Christmas budget. Include gifts, food, special occasion clothes, and decorations. Make a spreadsheet or use a notebook and keep track of everything.
- Start a gift list. Make a list of everyone you buy gifts for, the amount for each person, and then list ideas for each person. If you need them to give you ideas, ask them now so they have time to think about it.
- Start making Christmas gifts, if you’re giving homemade gifts. This can save money, but it takes more time, so if you’re going to do this and not get stressed, you’ve got to start now.
- Start a system for keeping track of sales. There’s lots of ways to do this. You could use a folder or a binder to put coupons and flyers. Keep things in categories so they’re easier to find before shopping.
- Start stocking up on Christmas wrapping supplies. You probably already have a lot of things left from last year, so take a look and make a list. Don’t rush out to buy this, but as soon as you see a good sale, buy it.
- Start planning your menus. Plan all your menus now for all the big events, such as Thanksgiving, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year’s Eve, and any other get-togethers or parties you’re having or going to. Then, from your written menu, go ahead and list all food items you’re going to need. Categorize them and get ready to shop.
- Start buying the non-perishables on your grocery list. Each week when you do your usual weekly grocery shopping, pick up a few things on your list, especially if they’re on sale. Then by the time you have to make your first meal, you’ll be all set with your ingredients. Remember, though, to just get non-perishables for now.
- Start doing some deep cleaning now to prepare for guests. You’ll be a lot less stressed if you get some time-consuming tasks out of the way.
- Start planning a Christmas party. If you’ve always wanted to host a party, but never seem to have the time, you can do it this year, if you start early, like now. Write a to-do list and put all your tasks on your calendar, along with everything else.
Just think how great it would be to get started on these things now and have time to really enjoy the season. If you’re really short on time but want to get started, just take an hour or two and write out your master plan and timeline (#1 on the list above). With a plan, you’ll be ready to start running on your Thanksgiving and Christmas plans, come November.
I’ll be having a lot of upcoming posts on planning your holiday season. We’ll work on this together, step-by-step. Please leave comments below and let us know what you’re doing now to get ready for the holidays.
Have a wonderful day!