It is never to early to start planning for the busiest season of the year. It’s not about everything going according to plan. Its about knowing what are the must dos, what can wait, and the ability to shift things around when something happens.
Your brain hates the unknown and that is what causes the tornado effect in your mind because your brain has nothing to hold on to. Its like a little toddler without stability.
Taking the time to plan your weeks and days —even when it feels like a waste of time—is what helps you handle the chaos when things don’t go as expected.
It was more about mental preparation and sanity than anything.
Planning ahead of time is so freeing. You may not be as crazy as me thinking about the holidays in the middle of summertime, but it might be a smart habit to start thinking about Christmas plans by September 1st
Taking a moment to think about the holidays earlier can help you reduce holiday stress and create a much better holiday spirit.
When To Start Planning For Christmas
Lots of people will say that you should start planning for Christmas around the middle of October…… Oh dear friend you have missed the boat. It doesn’t mean you should start decorating by then. But you should absolutely start creating DIY projects and 100% be budgeting for the holiday season by September at the very latest.
Would you rather have to find an extra $250 in the months of November and December to have the holiday you really want. OR Would you rather start budgeting $100 a month starting in August. OR better yet. $50 a month starting in February?
When it comes to finding deals, organizing, and budgeting, starting in October is is way too late.
You need to start planning for Christmas in the first week of July. Especially if you want to have a bigger budget for Christmas and even do some fun crafts and games throughout the month of December
Here is why that matters. Thanksgiving is its own VERY busy holiday. It takes up a lot of meal planning and even travel expenses. Then we have to do it all over again a month later but throwing a list of gifts a mile long into the mix.
Let’s say you start planning in July, you need to take off those 6 weeks at the end of the year. That leaves you with 4.5 months left to plan, get ready for, cook for, and decorate for TWO holidays!
When you start early you set yourself up to really enjoy the most wonderful time of the year. — Not to sound cliché…
You can do more fun things because you chose to spread your budget out as far as possible instead of packing it into the last two months of the year.
Christmas is a time when families and friends get together to celebrate the holiday. If you start planning ahead of time, it will make the holidays far less stressful.
Here are some tasks you can do to get ready for Christmas and help set the tone for your next holiday season.
#1. Decide What You Want To Do Around The Holiday
This might sound really simple but what do you want to do for Christmas. Do you want to stay home or go on vacation? Do you want to make cookies for neighbors, holiday traditions you want to keep, go see Christmas lights, or are there fun events close by. Once you figure that out, start making your plans.
If you’re staying home, start planning your decorating and buying gifts. If you’re going on vacation, book your flights and hotels.
If you are having dinner at your house you can start planning the guest list so you know how many people you need to feed.
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#2. Update Tour Calendar – and decide what you DON’T want to have happen over the holidays.
Taking a look at your holiday calendar can help you determine what dates need to be set aside for your ideal holiday will help A LOT. It also helps set clear expectations for yourself. If you only have two “word days” of the week of the holiday you better use a few days the week before to prep things. This is one of my favorite planners to use.
Decide what you DONT want to do or have happen over the holidays.
If you raise animals like I do that are a little more flexible when they can be bred make sure to NOT schedule animals to be due to have their babies Christmas week. This is THE WORST thing for your mental sanity especially if you tend to go to other peoples houses.
#3. Getting Things Done Ahead Of Time Will Leave Space For Creating Memories
We love the idea of making decorations, DIY gifts, having a Hallmark movie night, and doing more fun things at Christmas but we are so busy who has time for that.
If you get things like shopping for gifts, buy gift bags that can be decorated, and things that won’t spoil done ahead of time you will have a lot more time to do the things you really want to do. Your holiday spirit will be in full swing. But a lot of our problem is not just leaving things closer to the holiday but also having huge mental leaks causing our brain to make us feel busier than we really are.
#4. Declutter And Organize
Whether you have more Christmas decorations than you can handle or you really have no idea what you have on hand for the Christmas party. Take the time to organize what you have, purge what you don’t want to use anymore, and take stock of what you do have to avoid overspending.
#5. Budget Ahead Of Time
First I want you to think of a Christmas budget as a spending plan instead of a restricting thing that tells you what you CAN’T spend. So many people avoid it because it sounds like a punishment. But if you look at it as your permission slip to spend a certain amount it will feel a whole lot less of a party killer.
Creating a budget means you have to have TIME in between the “due date” and where you are now. The more space you have in-between now and Christmas “when the bill is due in full” the less pressure you will feel. It will be link picking up a pebble instead of a bolder.
To have a peace filled holiday that doesn’t leave you feeling sick when you see the total. You have to be able to spread out the cost of Christmas and all that comes with it.
Things like food, gifts, travel, and decorations are all expenses that come along with Christmas.
Here is a simple way to budget for this Christmas:
- Write down everything you normally do over the holidays and the price that comes with it.
- Put the things that are “have to’s” at the top. – I say that in air quotes because nothing is a have to. But I mean things like getting your kiddos gifts or buying things for other people that may cause you to feel guilty if you don’t buy them.
- Then put everything that is an extra at the bottom IN THE ORDER that they mean the most to you.
This way you are able to see the cost for each thing next to the action item. Total them up and see what the total is. Then divide that total buy how many months you have between now and Christmas.
For the love of all things Christmas DON’T buy something if its a good deal. — If you don’t have a space or activity pop into your mind when you see that thing on sale. DON’T buy it.
#6. Get Some Shopping Done Early
If you know there are certain items your family will want this holiday season, take advantage of the summertime sales during the Fourth of July weekend.
Things like canned goods or dry food will be just fine if you buy them 4-6 months out. Even frozen foods can be bought early.
Let’s not forget about gifts. You can buy those throughout the year and spread out your budget. Those surprise gift exchanges are a great reason to have something waiting in the wings to grab a gift during your busy season.
Getting some of your shopping out of the way will create more time for better things once the holidays roll around, plus you will ensure there is plenty of selection of big-ticket items you don’t want to miss out on.
Make a list of the food you need to buy as well as gift lists so you can know exactly what you bought.
#7. Make The Big Decisions Early
If you are going to be hosting the holiday it’s a good time to make big decisions early. The sooner you decide what your holiday will look like, who will be coming, and begin to connect the dots, the better.
You can reach out to distant family who needs to make travel arrangements for the holiday party to give them notice about the plans. If you are going to do anything radically different, it’s also a good time to decide and let anyone know who may be affected.
Giving extra time is never a bad thing. Plenty of notice can ease any ruffled feathers that might be caused otherwise. (But I’m sure your family never complains and gets in a tizzy)
#8. Plan Your Christmas Card List
Something that is always fun is making DIY Christmas Cards. Here is a great kit on amazon if you want to DIY your cards but are not great at design if you are like me.
This is something that tends to fall by the wayside because it does take time. They don’t have to be complicated and you don’t have to write a huge long letter. But even sending out 5-10 cards will drastically increase your holiday spirit.
You might have a hard time buying Christmas cards months in advance at the store but you can order some very nice cards on Amazon if you want to get a jump on getting them written. If you write one a day you will be able to spend more time on them and make them much more meaningful.
Even if you are going to send Christmas cards but you are not ready to buy the cards you can start compiling a list of names and addresses ahead of time.
#9. Plan Christmas Dinners And Contributions
If you go to a lot of places for Christmas (which can get very tiresome but sometimes we just have to grin and bar it.) you can plan out the holiday menu to save stress.
Tips
- Pro tip: Think about what you will be making to take to each holiday dinner. Can you make a larger batch of something and save a portion to take to the holiday get-together?
But also make sure to plan any meals you will be having at your own home so you know exactly what you are making or what you should ask others to bring.
People don’t mind bringing food and it sounds nice to say “bring whatever you like” but it’s more helpful if they know at least what category you need if not exactly what to bring and you can tell them WAY ahead of time.
#10. Start Looking For Holiday Recipes Now
Making seasonal food is a huge part of feeling like the holiday season is in full swing. Start looking for holiday recipes ahead of time to you can either try them out a few months priers you can know if it is a bust BEFORE taking it somewhere or handing it to your family and not getting the result you hoped for.
It’s never too early to plan. Taking some time mid-summer to plan for your holiday season can ease the stress down the line. Making the big decisions, setting up a holiday organizer, making holiday travel plans, locking down important dates and reservations, and grabbing those big-ticket items can take a huge load off your plate come the holiday season.