How to Prepare for Christmas

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It’s the third Monday in October! It seems like we were just planning our big goals for the year back in January, and now it’s time to start planning our Christmas spending. I’m sharing with you today how to prepare for Christmas right now so you can relax later and enjoy the holiday fun!

Do you use spreadsheets? Notebooks? Keep a list of what you’ve bought so far for each person on your list?

I am picturing someone laughing right now while reading this because if you’re like me, you end up waiting until the last minute.

If you tell yourself every year that this is the year it’s going to be different, and you’re going to get started shopping earlier, then this is the post for you! Let’s learn how to prepare for Christmas!

 

 

Set a Budget & Stick to It!

 

I have to set the foundation for this post with budgeting. It’s the least fun, so we’ll just get it out of the way first! When you choose the total amount you’ll spend on Christmas gifts, you have to carefully consider your finances.

Please hear me when I say this: It is not worth going into debt!

I’ve been there. You have everyone taken care of, but you see an item that would be perfect for someone you’ve already bought for! You think of the smile it’s going to bring to their face and you get tempted to buy that extra gift.

This starts a domino effect, friends!

Before you know it, it’s not just one extra gift for someone – it’s lots of extra gifts for people.

It is so much fun to buy things that bring happiness to others, especially if you have kids. But truly, it is never worth making yourself struggle to pay bills just for Christmas gifts. Showing people you love them and care is the most important gift you can give – and you can do that for free!

This holiday, as wonderful and magical as it is, comes only once per year. Don’t drown in debt for something that happens once, when you have bills that need paid every month.

 

How Do I Set a Budget?

 

With that being said, go over your finances and decide what amount you could spend without causing yourself difficulty with payments, groceries, etc. If you can easily take an extra $50 per check for a few weeks and set it back for Christmas shopping, then that’s great. If that number looks differently for you, that’s also okay!

To prepare for Christmas, just choose a number that fits your lifestyle comfortably and everything will work out!

I have a background in banking, particularly in escrow. Some of you may escrow your homeowner’s insurance and/or mortgage payments. Let’s use this analogy for your Christmas spending.
For an escrow account, you have to know how much your total annual premium is. Then, you divide that number by 12 months and then that’s the amount you’ll pay per month.

For the sake of Christmas spending, we are doing 11 months because you might cut yourself short on funds if you include December.

 

Try this:

$500 for Christmas spending
$500 / 11 months = $45.45 per month
So you need to allocate $45.45 each month into a savings account for your Christmas spending.

 

This makes things a ton easier than realizing it’s November and you don’t have any money saved up, and you start to stress.

 

Don’t Compare Your Budget to Others

 

This step is super important! It is so easy to get caught up in the comparison trap. We do this with lots of things, such as social media (especially Instagram!), what we wear, etc. When you talk to your friends or even if you see others holiday shopping while you’re in a store, you might think to yourself that you want to buy all of that stuff too. You may even spend more than you should because you feel like you should be keeping up with other people.

The truth is, we need to focus on our own budget and lifestyle.

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with spending money if you have it and it’s not making your life difficult. However, don’t get caught up in thinking that you need to keep up with the Jones’.

A reminder for you is that a lot of those people you’re looking at are overspending! They are going to struggle after Christmas is over. If you stick to a comfortable budget, you won’t be doing that!

 

Keep Track of Gift Recipients

 

Now that you’ve chosen how much you can afford, write down the people who you are going to buy for. Keeping a spreadsheet, notebook or word document with the list of names will be super helpful throughout the year. This small, but mighty step really helps you to prepare for Christmas each year.

You can allocate a certain amount of money for each person if you’d like, or you can just keep track of each item you buy so you don’t miss someone, or overspend on them.

Choose the method that works best for you!

Just for this exercise, I wanted to share with you some of my favorite spreadsheets that I found while searching Pinterest.

Holiday Budget Planner Printable from Cents + Purpose

Christmas Gift Tracker Printable from It’s a Southern Life Y’all

 

When To Start Christmas Shopping

 

The day after Christmas! Seriously, so many great items are slashed in price after the holidays are over. It is truly never too early to start shopping.

Since I’m writing this in October, we’ll just start with shopping right now! Black Friday and Cyber Monday are great options for picking up some gifts on sale.

 

Black Friday

 

There are two types of people: people who go every year Black Friday shopping and enjoy the madness, and people are can’t stand all of the people and rushing around to fight for gifts.

 

For those of you that love the chaos, you probably already do the following (but here are a few reminders!):

• Check Black Friday ads ASAP for sales.
• Write down the item(s) you want, the name of the store, and the time frame it’s available (if applicable).
• Some stores contain maps where the items will be located for Black Friday, so be sure to print those out for your trip!

 

For those of you who just can’t stand the thought of dealing with the chaos, there’s still ways to catch some awesome sales:

• Online Black Friday sales are becoming just as good (if not better!) than in-store sales!
• Check for online Black Friday ads or gift guides as soon as they become available
• Typically, you aren’t constrained to any time frames (except for placing the orders ON Black Friday) and you definitely don’t have to worry about where the items are located!

 

Remember what we talked about in the earlier sections, stick to your budget and write down each gift you buy and who you bought that gift for. This will help you track your expenses and stay organized!

 

Cyber Monday

 

I have to admit, for probably the last few years, Cyber Monday has made me far happier than Black Friday! It’s a crucial part of my game plan to prepare for Christmas.

The same rules apply for the online Black Friday shopping.

If you have any entertainment lovers to buy for, I find a lot of great sales on Amazon for movies, tv shows, tv’s, etc.

 

Look for Sales or Good Buys Anytime!

 

There are tons of great sales waiting to be grabbed even when it isn’t a holiday. This is why shopping throughout the year is a great idea to prepare for Christmas.

When you’re shopping on a grocery trip, you might see something that catches your eye for someone (if you shop at a place like Walmart, Target, etc.).

If the price fits your budget or you know it’s something they would love, then go ahead and pick it up. You can put it back for safe-keeping at home and you’ll have them ready, or almost ready if you’re buying more than one gift, for Christmas!

If you take a trip to the mall, look for any good deals that might make for great Christmas gifts. One of my absolute favorites is Bath & Body Works! They have sales throughout the year on all of their goodies, and if you watch them closely enough, you can tell which are the best sales (I’ll have to write a post just for this later on!).

For example, their body washes can be ‘buy three, get three.’ That’s a pretty great deal! That would help make up part of six Christmas gifts!

 

Gifts Ideas (That Won’t Break The Bank!)

 

There are a lot of great, useful gifts that you can buy throughout the year that don’t cost a lot of money! When you prepare for Christmas, you don’t have to spend a ton of money! It’s not how much you spend on someone, it’s just about showing them that you’re thinking of them and that you care.

These items could be used for stocking stuffers or small gifts (remember, you don’t have to overspend or splurge on big gifts!) for those on your list.

Below are some of my favorites to stock up on for Christmas gifts! I hope you’ll love these ideas, and please comment with your favorite ideas to help others too!

 

• Bath & Body Works Products
  • Probably my absolute favorite items for gifts! They have so many great sales all year round, but my favorite is when their hand soaps for $2.95 each. Their travel size lotions, body washes or perfumes are perfect stocking stuffers. The regular size products are great for anyone on your Christmas list!
• Dollar Tree Finds
  • I can’t tell you how many awesome gifts you can find at the Dollar Tree (that you cannot tell are actually only $1!). You can find a ton of fun Christmas-themed candies, festive mugs to put candy in or hot cocoa mix, as well as all of your bags, tissue paper, wrapping paper that you need!
• DIY Gift Baskets
  • You can make the cutest homemade gift baskets for loved ones. Find a cheap basket from the Dollar Tree, add in some tissue paper, and choose a theme for the basket. You can find tons of great ideas on Pinterest! Some of my favorites are movie-themed gift baskets, bath and body gift baskets, and a cozy basket filled with a blanket, some sweet treats (you could do homemade!) and a stuffed animal.
• Coffee Cups/Travel Mugs
  • Filling up a cute cup or travel mug with festive candy or a gift card makes for a great gift. You could also do some fun stationary items, if you have someone that loves pens and highlighters, etc.
• Hot Cocoa Ornaments
  • I found this on Pinterest years ago, but cannot remember the source. You buy the big clear Christmas ornaments and fill them with hot cocoa mix and top them with marshmallows. You can place them in a pretty gift box and it makes for an easy, inexpensive gift!

 

I hope you have the very best Monday, friends! Let’s make this a productive week ahead and make it as positive and happy as possible.

Learning how to prepare for Christmas is a great way to stay less stressed this time of year, and I think we can all use that!

 

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Let’s Chat!

Do you tell yourself it’ll be different every year?
When do you typically start shopping?
Do you set a budget for holiday spending?