Yes, you read that right. It's time to start planning for Christmas even though we are several months away from the holiday season.
Whether you celebrate Christmas traditionally or in your unique way, early preparation is key to enjoying a stress-free, joyful holiday without the last-minute chaos or financial strain. A little bit of planning now can go a long way in ensuring your festivities run smoothly and you don’t end up paying off Christmas well into the new year. In this episode, I’ll run you through some of the tips that I have to ensure a happy and stress free Christmas period.
Remember, your presence is the greatest present of all. With simple planning, you can ensure a joyful, engaging, and meaningful holiday period. Start saving early, plan your gifts thoughtfully, and decide how you want to experience the holiday well in advance. Avoid the December rush and find special moments to cherish.
After you start your holiday preparations, I’d love to hear from you. Share your tips on how you make this season amazing. Until next time, keep preparing and live your best balanced life.
Happy early Christmas planning!
Connect with Me:
Website: www.balanceathand.com
Instagram: @balance_at_hand
Hello everyone.
Speaker:Yes, the title of this
Speaker:episode is correct.
Speaker:It's time to start
Speaker:planning for Christmas.
Speaker:In whatever form you partake in the
Speaker:annual event, there are things you need
Speaker:to get into place right now to remove
Speaker:stress or chaos from trying to do things
Speaker:in the weeks leading up to the day.
Speaker:And also to make sure that you're not
Speaker:paying off Christmas in the new year.
Speaker:So a little bit of planning
Speaker:is needed, but it's not hard.
Speaker:In fact, this is the fun type of
Speaker:planning where your goal is to
Speaker:create joy for others and yourself
Speaker:Let's run through the key areas.
Speaker:You need to get organized gifts.
Speaker:Your plans for the holiday
Speaker:period and budgets.
Speaker:First up, gifts.
Speaker:I recommend you get into the
Speaker:habit of starting your Christmas
Speaker:list early, really early.
Speaker:In the new year, when you start
Speaker:a new diary, there are normally a
Speaker:couple of notes pages at the back.
Speaker:This is a great spot to start
Speaker:your Christmas planning.
Speaker:And you can also use other forms
Speaker:to record your list according
Speaker:to how you manage yourself.
Speaker:This could be in your bullet journal or
Speaker:a dedicated notes page on your phone.
Speaker:Whatever suits you best
Speaker:is the right tool to use.
Speaker:Your list should have a column for names
Speaker:of people, a column for gift ideas.
Speaker:A column for your budget and then
Speaker:somewhere to tick off when you have
Speaker:purchased or completed your gift
Speaker:for a person throughout the year.
Speaker:Writing my Christmas gift list
Speaker:is one of the first things I
Speaker:do each year in my new diary.
Speaker:I love doing this just after Christmas
Speaker:when I can make sure I add the names
Speaker:of people I forgot, or people I may
Speaker:have had to do last minute, gifting
Speaker:for, or persons I had overlooked.
Speaker:My challenge to you today is to take five
Speaker:minutes after you finish this podcast and
Speaker:start your list for the coming Christmas.
Speaker:Just write down names.
Speaker:Consider people in your life you'd
Speaker:like to recognize at Christmas, which
Speaker:could be family, friends, teachers,
Speaker:children's school friends, work
Speaker:colleagues, acquaintances, and relatives
Speaker:you may be expecting to see this year.
Speaker:Over the coming weeks, as your list
Speaker:starts to get really solid with names,
Speaker:allocate a budget against each person.
Speaker:This budget is really important to
Speaker:help guide either the purchase of a
Speaker:gift or supplies to create a gift.
Speaker:total up the amount you have noted.
Speaker:Make it your goal this year to
Speaker:have a debt free Christmas day.
Speaker:So how much do you need to start
Speaker:putting aside each week to afford the
Speaker:budget you have allocated to gifts?
Speaker:Next, we are still months out
Speaker:from Christmas and you can
Speaker:start to fill in gift ideas.
Speaker:Stick to your budget and take
Speaker:inspiration from conversations
Speaker:you've been having with people.
Speaker:Have they hinted at things
Speaker:that they would need or love?
Speaker:Consider experiences over things.
Speaker:Think of gifts you can craft or create
Speaker:yourself with that extra special touch.
Speaker:so much.
Speaker:Between now and Christmas, there are a
Speaker:myriad of sales that will start coming
Speaker:our way, which is fantastic because
Speaker:you are now prepared with your list and
Speaker:budget to start looking for great buys.
Speaker:As you start to cross people off your
Speaker:list, I recommend having a large tub
Speaker:or a box at your house that you can
Speaker:place items in throughout the year.
Speaker:Place some sticky notes and a
Speaker:pen inside the box also, so that
Speaker:you can make a note of who it's
Speaker:for as you place it in the box.
Speaker:This tip just makes
Speaker:things easier at wrapping.
Speaker:My personal goal is to have gifts sorted
Speaker:and wrapped by the end of November.
Speaker:I love the feeling of being uber prepared
Speaker:coming into the Christmas period.
Speaker:No rush, no stress.
Speaker:Sometimes my kids help me wrap.
Speaker:Sometimes I love just taking a few hours
Speaker:and making presents really beautiful.
Speaker:So that's getting yourself planned,
Speaker:productive, and purposeful in your
Speaker:presence, which I find makes the gifts
Speaker:even more thoughtful and special.
Speaker:Next up, planning for the holiday period.
Speaker:Do you have a traditional way
Speaker:of celebrating on the day?
Speaker:Or will this year be different?
Speaker:Are you planning a holiday as well?
Speaker:Do you have the responsibility
Speaker:for cooking for a large group?
Speaker:Or do you contribute a dish
Speaker:to a family or friends meal?
Speaker:Make notes in your Christmas notes
Speaker:section about your typical Christmas.
Speaker:There are definitely a few meals out
Speaker:I need to budget for, as well as some
Speaker:cooking I like to do on Christmas
Speaker:Eve, Christmas Day, and Boxing Day.
Speaker:And last year I ordered a spectacular
Speaker:lemon meringue tart from a local
Speaker:French baker, and I'm definitely
Speaker:planning to do that again this year.
Speaker:So start to build out a rough plan
Speaker:that you can put your estimates against
Speaker:so that you can budget for this also.
Speaker:Also don't forget to make time
Speaker:to do your annual decorating.
Speaker:This should be a fun activity and not
Speaker:one that's jammed into your calendar late
Speaker:one night just to make sure it gets done.
Speaker:Plan out what you need to do well
Speaker:in advance and dedicate time to it.
Speaker:So your planning needs to include
Speaker:time for decorating, but also pack up.
Speaker:Whether this is after Boxing Day or
Speaker:after New Year's, depending on what
Speaker:you all like to do, give yourself
Speaker:the time needed to remove stress from
Speaker:the exercise by giving yourself time.
Speaker:Let's have a look at
Speaker:budgets in more detail.
Speaker:I have set up a saving account
Speaker:that is called Christmas Savings.
Speaker:Yes, a really obvious account
Speaker:name, but it makes a clear message
Speaker:for me to create a time of year
Speaker:that is joyful and comfortable.
Speaker:And for me, saving and being
Speaker:prepared takes out the chaos.
Speaker:After looking at your budgets,
Speaker:how much do you need to save?
Speaker:Obviously for this year, the
Speaker:money you put aside will be a bit
Speaker:more compressed because Christmas
Speaker:is actually coming quite soon.
Speaker:But from next year, if you start saving
Speaker:from the first week of January, you need
Speaker:to put aside 10 a week to have 500 at
Speaker:Christmas, 20 a week to have a thousand,
Speaker:30 a week to have 1500 and so on.
Speaker:This holiday period comes every year.
Speaker:It's not a surprise.
Speaker:And with very simple planning,
Speaker:your credit card won't need to
Speaker:take a hit and your personal
Speaker:achievement will be on a high.
Speaker:Which makes the holiday even more fun.
Speaker:Now I do get asked about gift ideas.
Speaker:Some of the most popular ones
Speaker:trending at the moment are travel
Speaker:vouchers, plants or cactuses.
Speaker:Cactuses are always really
Speaker:good for office spaces.
Speaker:book or book voucher.
Speaker:The gift of learning is one of
Speaker:the greatest gifts you can give.
Speaker:my son has given me some
Speaker:strong feedback that Lego
Speaker:continues to be a great present.
Speaker:But also think of flowers from your
Speaker:garden or local market, or if you
Speaker:have any sort of craft skills, a gift
Speaker:made by you can be really special.
Speaker:This time of year doesn't
Speaker:need to be expensive.
Speaker:Your presence is always the
Speaker:greatest present of all.
Speaker:consider things such as taking someone
Speaker:for a special coffee or afternoon tea,
Speaker:consider baking someone a special cake.
Speaker:Or something that you've created
Speaker:yourself with due thought and effort.
Speaker:I've heard personal vouchers are
Speaker:a great way to go, such as gifting
Speaker:someone a voucher for a day of
Speaker:you helping them in the garden.
Speaker:If you have the pleasure of living
Speaker:close to those you would like to
Speaker:spoil, take them on an outing to a
Speaker:bookstore and together select a book
Speaker:for you to give them on Christmas day.
Speaker:This holiday period doesn't
Speaker:have to be the silly season.
Speaker:With some simple and fun
Speaker:planning, you can mentally and
Speaker:financially be comfortable for
Speaker:the end of year festivities.
Speaker:remember that your friends and family
Speaker:don't want a stressful Christmas for you.
Speaker:And they certainly wouldn't
Speaker:want you to still be paying
Speaker:off Christmas in the new year.
Speaker:So the key takeaways from today, simple
Speaker:planning can make your holiday period
Speaker:a joyful and engaging experience.
Speaker:As early as possible in the year, start
Speaker:setting aside a small amount of savings
Speaker:each week to enable you to work towards
Speaker:achieving a debt free holiday period.
Speaker:and experiences over things, or
Speaker:make presents really meaningful.
Speaker:Planning ahead for gifts
Speaker:provides you time to really put
Speaker:a personal touch on presents.
Speaker:Think about how you would
Speaker:like to experience the holiday
Speaker:period well ahead of the time.
Speaker:What do you love and want to do more of?
Speaker:And what do you dislike and
Speaker:want to avoid if you can?
Speaker:For me, I avoid the stores in
Speaker:December wherever possible.
Speaker:It's just not my thing.
Speaker:But every year I love to go
Speaker:shopping the week after Christmas
Speaker:and find our family's special
Speaker:decoration for our Christmas
Speaker:collection for the following year.
Speaker:It's a special ritual and I love
Speaker:getting a Boxing Day special.
Speaker:If you have space, there is nothing
Speaker:wrong with you also purchasing after
Speaker:Boxing Day, the standard Christmas
Speaker:consumables while they're on special too.
Speaker:Think ribbon, wrapping paper, cards.
Speaker:After you've had a chance to
Speaker:start your holiday preparations,
Speaker:I cannot wait to hear from you.
Speaker:I love all tips on how you make
Speaker:this time amazing until next time,
Speaker:keep getting yourself prepared
Speaker:and live your best balanced life.