The holidays are almost upon us, and as someone who gets overwhelmed easily, I’ve come up with a system to help me stay a little more sane. In this post, I’m going over a few of the things I do to start my Christmas prep early.

I am naturally a procrastinator. Breaking up my holiday to-do lists into smaller tasks helps me actually get started instead of continuously putting it off because the overall task seems too big.

Make a list and take stock.

Sit down and really think it through, make a list of everything you need to do over the holidays, and categorize it. I like to do the following categories:- meals, gifts, decor, and hosting / travel.

Once you have your categories in place, start jotting down ideas of what you want to do and what you need to purchase under each category. Also, take stock of what you already have so you don’t end up spending more than you need to .

E.g

Meals – recipe ideas,

Gifts – Gift ideas ,

Decor – New ornaments , centerpiece ideas

Travel – tickets, Gas,

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Set your Christmas budget.

I can’t stress this enough. I know most people go off budget during the holidays, and when January comes around, you’re trying to piece together where all the money went.

There are so many tools that can help you budget for your savings,  from apps to spreadsheets, take use of whichever one is more your speed.

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For home decor

Start by taking stock of all the Christmas decor that you have. I like to change up my Christmas decor every 2 or so years, but of course, there are some staples I like to keep.

Check if anything is broken or damaged in storage. Once I have a stock of what I have, I like to go on Pinterest ( obviously!) and grab a few inspo decor ideas. Remember! Stick to the budget that you set.

For gifts

Gifts are a bit tricky. I like to have a note for Gift ideas ready in my phone throughout the year. I know that seems like a weird way to go about it , but it saves me a lot of time when it comes to the actual holiday season.

Another tip , and thank me later for this one. Make use of sales that take place throughout the year , my favourite is black friday and Cyber Monday. If you already have an idea of what you want to buy, then once the sale starts, you can easily make your purchase at a more affordable price.

Plus, you know retailers will want to hike up their prices during the holiday season, and you can avoid all that.

For Hosting

I know hosting is a bit intimidating for most, but here are some ways to make it easier.

Games and Activities

You are going to plan out some activities to keep your guests entertained, especially if you have kids around. If you want some ideas, then you can check out this post on some Christmas activities for adults and Kids.

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Preparing for Christmas Dinner

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For the meals, you have 2 options: either you are going to be taking care of all the food, or you can have a potluck situation where each of the guests has to bring a food idea to serve.

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Christmas Potluck

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If you are doing a potluck dinner, then the best way to go about this is to assign aspects of the meal, say 3 people are in charge of appetizers , 3 for dessert, etc.  This helps a lot because you don’t end up having too much of one thing.

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For your meals

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If you are going to be making all the meals yourself, then here are some handy tips .

Try and plan all your meals ahead and shop for all the non-perishables ahead of time. I like to buy all my non-perishables in bulk so I can save some extra money, and trust me, once you start , your budget becomes a little clearer.

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Tip: Thank God for AI. One of the ways I like to use AI is I input all the recipes I want to make into ChatGPT, and I ask it to make a List of all the ingredients I need to buy for all the meals. This saves me so much time from having to go through each recipe manually.

Don’t know what to cook? I have some Christmas recipe ideas you can try here.

Table Setting

Need some table setting inspiration ideas? Then check out this post on some Christmas/ Winter tablescape ideas.

For Travel

Lastly, if you’ve been invited elsewhere for Christmas / Christmas dinner, then you’ll have to just make sure of the following.

If you’ve been invited over for Dinner

Have an idea of what you’re going to bring, whether it’s wine or some appetizers. When in doubt, ask the host if you need to bring anything.

I hope this post has been helpful. I know Christmas time is a lot , but if you start planning ahead, you’ll save yourself from all that headache.