You can also find this post on ways to prep for Christmas in October on the podcast Parenting in Real Life wherever you listen to podcasts.
Christmas may seem far away, but it’s less than two months after Halloween! Sometimes I like to focus on one holiday at a time, but because Christmas has so much going on, it gets a bit crazy with all the things to do. So before you start baking those eggnog cookies, I have 3 quick tips to help you prep for Christmas now so things run a bit more smoothly in December.
Christmas cards
I LOVE Christmas cards and if you’re like me, it’s time to start thinking about family pictures. If you already took some this year, way to go! If not, photographers are already booking into November. Make sure to schedule a family photo session or, if you’re lucky and have a family member or friend that’s good with a camera, you can have them do it for much cheaper. 🙂
I would also suggest ordering cards soon so they’ll be ready to go the last week of November. Even if you don’t like to do Christmas cards, it’s a great time to take family pictures!
Start buying gifts now
Black Friday is next month and sales are already starting to happen. Do you know what you’re getting all the important people in your life? If you start now, things will feel less chaotic as the holiday comes and you might even get some better deals on your gifts.
I like to make a spreadsheet with the people and gifts I get them, as well as how much they cost so I can stay on budget. I also have my kids make a list of the things they want and choose from the list. It’s super nice that stores send catalogs of their toys…I hope you can sense the sarcasm. Actually I have a love hate relationship with toy catalogs. It helps me see the toys that I didn’t know about that my kids might like, but it also makes their lists super long.
This year we’re getting our kids Amazon Fire Tablets for Christmas. These are a great option for kids and we’ve used them the last few years. They’re just ready for an upgrade!
Budgeting for Christmas
We like to save money all year long by putting aside money every month to prep for Christmas. If you don’t do that, you may want to start saving this month so you can divide your Christmas budget by 3.
If you want to budget all year next year, just take your total budget and divide it by 12. This also means that you need to keep track of your spending each month. We like to use YNAB (You Need A Budget), but there’s lots of different budget trackers that help you keep track of your spending.
We don’t like to go too crazy for Christmas so we like to stick to the saying – something you want, something you need, something to wear, something to read. And this doesn’t include what Santa brings. Sometimes I replace one of those 4 with “something to do” because often “something to wear” is also something my kids need. So it just depends on what I’m getting them.
So there’s my 3 best tips to getting a jumpstart on the Christmas holiday. How are you preparing now for Christmas?