Ultimate Christmas Countdown Checklist

Here's a great article from Real Simple that gives you a way to stay organized yet prepared for the upcoming holidays.  I just realized that we are about to begin May!  That is almost 1/2 of the year gone by already.  Don't wait until the last minute.  Try to get an early start this year and see if you can't enjoy the holidays more!

Another great place to get help organizing for the holidays is here.  You can get a wonderful start with planning and keeping track of your progress using this Christmas Countdown method.  Please check it out.

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Getting organized is the best way to ensure you’ll have more holiday cheer, less holiday stress. This timeline will help you keep track of the big tasks.

Three to Six Months Before (Before Mid-October)

• Make a family plan. Are you heading to your in-laws’ house? Hosting everyone at yours? Sit down with family members and decide where you’ll be spending the holidays.
• Buy plane tickets. If you’ll be flying somewhere, get your plane tickets as soon as possible.

Two Months Before (Mid-October)

• Put activities on a calendar. As you find out when parties and school pageants are scheduled, write them on a master calendar. Keep it next to the phone, so if someone calls to ask if you’re free for an event, you’ll know the answer immediately.
• Start baking things you can freeze. Un-iced cookies, bars, and nut breads are good bets to make ahead. All will keep in the freezer if they are well wrapped, and you can have a few extra things on hand for the friend who stops by unexpectedly with a gift. Related: Make-Ahead Holiday Cookies
  
• Update your holiday card list. Determine how many cards you need, and make sure you have updated addresses.
• Shop for cards and wrapping paper. Some stores put holiday goods out by Halloween. You’ll get the best selection if you start early. And if you’re ordering cards online, you’ll want to have plenty of time for them to arrive.
• Make plans for overnight guests. Think about who will be showing up and spending the night. Do you need to replace some old sheets? Buy more towels? Now’s the time to get your house in shape for visitors.

Six Weeks Before (Beginning of November)

• Make a master gift list. You may not have every detail filled in, but at least make sure you list everyone you’ll need to buy for, and think about what they’d like. That way you can pick up things as you see them, rather than running to the mall at the last minute. Have your children give you their wish lists.
• Make a budget. Set a ballpark figure for how much you can spend on gifts—it will help you stay grounded when the shopping gets frenzied. Related: 4-Week Holiday Savings Plan
  
• Start shopping in earnest. Yes, you may already be picking things up here and there, but the more you buy ahead, the better—especially if you’ll be mailing gifts. If you have big-ticket items (like electronics) that go on sale the day after Thanksgiving, you may want to brave the crowds on Black Friday—you could save substantially.

One Month Before (Directly After Thanksgiving)

• Do any online shopping. Order gifts now so you have lots of time to wrap them once they arrive.
• Wrap gifts as you buy them. Not only will this keep little eyes from finding out what Santa is bringing, it will save you time on Christmas Eve.
• Take stock of your decorations. Get out your lights, ornaments, wreaths, and lawn ornaments. See if anything is broken and needs to be replaced.
• Take stock of dishes and glasses. Make sure you have the serving platters and wineglasses you’ll need for parties or special meals, in time to buy more, if necessary.
• Start addressing holiday cards. It can take a while, depending on how long your list is.

Three Weeks Before (First Week of December)

• Mail cards. If you’re too busy to get them addressed and mailed during the first week of December, consider putting them off until after the holiday rush. People generally enjoy getting a card a few days late, when things have slowed down and they actually notice the mail.
• Buy a live tree. This is a good time to get your tree, if you want it to stay fresh and retain its needles through Christmas. Same goes for fresh greenery or garlands. Related: How to Choose a Christmas Tree
  
• Decorate! You may be one who decks the halls as soon as the Thanksgiving turkey carcass has been tossed. That’s fine, too, but by the first week of December, it’s time to get the house looking festive.
• Finalize menus. If you’ll be serving the holiday meal make sure you know what you’ll be cooking and what family members will be bringing. Start a master grocery list.
• Order a turkey or ham. Or whatever else is the centerpeice of your holiday meal—you don’t want to get caught short.

Two Weeks Before (Second Week of December)

• Make sure out-of-town presents are mailed. Try to have gifts in the mail by December 10. Related: How to Ship Gifts of All Shapes and Sizes
  
• Shop for nonperishable items. Buy alcohol and any canned goods or pantry staples you’ll need.

One Week Before

• Deep clean your house. You’ll enjoy those decorations even more if the floors are clean and the kitchen is organized. One important task: Clear out your refrigerator. Toss old leftovers to make room for big dishes and ingredients that’ll be piling up closer to the holiday.
• Buy batteries for children’s toys. If you haven’t stocked up while shopping, make sure you have all the accoutrements necessary for that handheld video game or remote-controlled car.

Three Days Before

• Shop for fresh ingredients. Hit the store for the last-minute vegetables or fruit you need for meals.
• Set the table. So you use those gold-rimmed goblets only once a year? Enjoy them! Go ahead and set the table. Make it even easier on the big day by putting a sticky note on each platter that states what dish you plan to serve on it. (That also allows people to help you without asking 12 times.)

Two Days Before

• Start cooking. You’ve probably socked away some things in the freezer already, but now’s the time to prep main courses and make anything that can sit for a couple of days.
• Buy fresh flowers. Whether they are for a party or a family meal, fresh flowers should always be purchased two days in advance. Blooms have time to open up, and they’ll still be lush and fragrant.

The Day Before

• Recharge the batteries on your camera or video recorder. You don’t want to miss the reaction on a little one’s face because the battery ran out during the school pageant the week before.
• Finish last-minute wrapping. And assemble toys that will be surprises from Santa.
• Finish cooking, and make a timeline for the next day. Decide when you’ll be feasting, then count backward to determine when to put the turkey (or ham or roast beef) in the oven and what else needs to be cooked.
• Sit back and relax. Enjoy your family and friends and relish the traditions you share. 
   
   

Strategies For Planning For Early Christmas Shopping

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Here is an article I found on Barbieinablender, which is a site that posts information about women's fashion and issues affecting women.  The actual article can be found here.  I think there are several really good tips for those who want to be organized and who want to shop early.  What do you think?  Will this work for you?

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Shopping early for the Christmas is always a good idea because you will find yourself ahead of vast majority of the crowds that only start their shopping when Christmas is just days or weeks away. Shoppers and other people generally will be green in envy this holiday season knowing that you are way ahead of them in your shopping for the Christmas and in fact, already finished your shopping by then. Having said that, you do not need to worry about getting stuck in the traffic jam on the way to the shopping centers and malls that are crowded with mostly last minute shoppers days before the Christmas day.

For those of you who appreciate the advantages of getting ready for your early Christmas shopping, I am certain that you have developed your own means of planning and accomplishing for your Christmas celebration. Meanwhile, for the rest of you who belong to the last minute shoppers group in organizing the Christmas shopping, you will be provided with some tips on early Christmas shopping for this year.

Planning for the Christmas shopping for the following year right after the Christmas this year is an excellent strategy that you can attempt to allow you to start and finish your Christmas shopping early. These methods have been adopted by many with extra disposable income. The pros about shopping few days just after the Christmas are twofold: Firstly, shopping right after Christmas can be enjoyable in the Christmas atmosphere. While the shops and shopping malls and centers may still be very crowded on these days, nevertheless, you can slow down your pace to enjoy the shopping in a more relaxed manner. Secondly, with grand sales still going on, you are in it for shopping big times and very likely, a great saving for your shopping.

The next big thing about getting your Christmas shopping done earlier is through purchasing online at the comfort of your home. Imagine that you can make purchases for the variety of goods and gifts online ranging from toys, fruits, wine, gift baskets, flowers and so forth at a click of your finger and the gifts will be wrapped brilliantly and delivered according to your instruction. The convenience of shopping online removes you of the need to worry over the wrapping process or long queue wait at post offices at some reasonable charges for the service. Therefore, if you like the idea of online Christmas shopping, remember to commit yourself to perform your purchases early in order to avoid disappointment due to short of stock or late shipment.

The other way to approach planning and shopping for your early Christmas this year would be purchasing at least two gifts for each of the person on your name list for their coming birthdays. The idea behind this is that while one gift serves as a birthday gift for the intended recipient, the second gift would be set aside as his or her Christmas gift. Not only would this allows you to break away from the crowd that swamps the shopping malls and stores near the Christmas seasons, sometimes, early shopping allows you to grab better and ideal gift which is difficult to come across at certain times of the year. I come across people who get agitated and stressful when it comes so close to Christmas that they have troubles finding the perfect gift for everyone in their name lists after hitting the shopping malls times after times. There is really no need to be in such a rush for the Christmas shopping should you have prepared earlier for your Christmas shopping and would have finished your purchases when the Christmas season arrives. Despite this, if you happen to encounter people on your name list with birthdays in December, that may mean some last minute shopping but what you can do is to mark down these people and plan the purchases of their birthday and Christmas gifts a month or few months earlier.

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