Life hacks by me - minimizing holiday stress

Originally published 12/30/2019 on Wordpress

The holidays always seem to come out of no where. Yet it is a calendar constant. It is a very busy time of year and quite stressful at that. A lot of the stress has to do with the financial burden associated with the holiday season. Gift giving, home decorating, holiday parties.

I personally hate to be stressed most especially during the holidays when we should be in happy holiday spirit mode.

These are some of the ways that I have worked out over the years to make it less stressful.

1- I start saving for Xmas on January 1st. I decide how much I want to spend on Xmas and start setting a portion of it away every month.

2- I generally keep a list of all the people I need to gift. It is updated yearly. I have 3 lists – family, work, and others (cleaner, mailman, trash men, groomer etc)

3- I also have a list of what the money I am saving is for. For example: Xmas tree, Xmas decorations, staff Xmas party, gifts, dinners.

4- I keep my address list current all year long

5-I order my Xmas cards in September or October.

6-I always put up my Xmas tree the day after thanksgiving

7- I call the outdoor Xmas lights guy end of October to schedule my outdoor light install. He usually does this on thanksgiving weekend.

8- I try to address and send my Xmas cards the weekend after thanksgiving

9- Some people like to shop all year round but I prefer to shop closer to Xmas. If I run across something I really like for someone on my list, then I’m inclined to buy it and keep it till Xmas.

10- I set a pretty tight budget and try to stick to it.

11-Lately I’ve done gift cards and cash as they are super easy.

The key really is in being organized and planning ahead.

Please comment below or share your hacks to make holiday time less stressful.

As always, thanks for reading.

K