Sharing today a few practical tips to help you have a relaxed, enjoyable, and peaceful holiday season.
At this point, you might wonder, how in the world is this possible, it seems to good to be true.
Well, let me tell you that it is possible, but it won’t come without intentionality, planning, and preparation. I created a free printable planning sheet to help you organize and plan, find it here.
The Christmas season is a favorite time of year for many people, myself included. It can easily become a hurried, stressful time as well if we are not careful to plan and prepare.
I’d like to share a few tips for shopping on a budget as well as simple ways to prepare ahead for a peaceful home this season.
Know your budget
I know a big question on people’s minds this time of year is their budget for Christmas gifts. We have seen the inflation rate increase in our economy in virtually every area and money is tight for many. Here’s a few practical ways to save money for Christmas.
1. Limit take-out food and cook from home. This sounds so simple, but really, what if you saved those dollars that you would be spending on carry-out food and put it into a Christmas fund?
Chances are if you did this for a month, or even two, you would have a nice little extra chunk of money by Christmas time.
If cooking from scratch is new to you, check out this blog post where I share the items I like to keep stocked in my pantry. You can also check out this free printable where I share 7 simple soup recipes.
2. Clean out, declutter, and organize your spaces. I don’t know about you, but I get an itch to clean out excess clutter and organize in the fall. It becomes a fun challenge to find things that I am no longer using that I could give away or donate.
As you declutter and organize, consider what items you will donate and what you could resell on Facebook Marketplace or your local buy, sell, trade groups. You might be surprised what items you find that could bring in an extra $25-50 or more!
3. Shop thrift stores and Facebook groups for gifts. This might sound odd to you at first, I know it did me. But after realizing how many new or like new items I give away, donate, or sell, I decided why not look in some of those same places for my own lists. There are so many treasures out there waiting to be found.
4. Watch for Black Friday sales. This can be a money trap, for sure, but if you know something specific that you want, make a list and wait for Black Friday to see if that item is on sale.
Planning ahead
Planning aead and being intentional with your time and resources is, I think, one of the most important aspects of a peaceful Christmas.
I encourage you to sit down early in the season and make a list of your priorities: what is a must? what can you say no to? what does your family actually enjoy and want to do?
Plan your commitments and activities. Once you ave determined your priorities, begin to fill those things into the calendar, being careful to leave plenty of white space. White space is GOLD, y’all. It is truly were the magic happens, relationships are formed, and memories made.
Plan your shopping lists and start shopping early. While it can be magical to do your Christmas shopping when everything is decorated and festive, getting gift purchases done, wrapped, and under the tree early can be a huge relief.
If you order gifts online, be sure to consider the delivery time and order early. Sometimes things can get backed up during the holidays and you don’t want to be stressing about gifts arriving in time.
Plan your holiday menus and baking. Are there baking projects that are a tradition? Write it into the calendar. Keep a running list of your menu for Christmas day and begin to pick up the grocery items here and there as you can. This will be one less thing you have to worry about later.
Plan gifts for neighbors and friends. This one is simple, but can easily get overlooked until the last moment and then be stressful.
I wrote a whole blog post with 14 budget friendly, simple gifts you can make at home for the people on your friends and neighbors list. Many of them would make a great hostess gift for those holiday parties too.
Prepare your heart
No matter how much planing and preparation you do, ultimately a peaceful, joyful holiday season is going to come down to your heart and attitude. Feed your soul, pour into your own heart.
I find that a few moment of quiet everyday orienting my heart to the Lord and the real reasons that we celebrate does wonders to shift my attitude and perspective on the day. You can find a few of my favorite books and devotionals for Advent here.
Remember that YOU set the tone for your day. We can put so much time and effort into creating the perfect home meal, having the Christmas decor beautiful, and finding the perfect gifs, but what your children and family will remember most is the time spent with you.
