Although, it seems like that it is way too early for us to think about Christmas, the festive season is just around 11 weeks away; 11 more Saturday’s! So, even before we realize it, the festive season will be here and we will be juggling around to manage our finances, getting prepared and organising for Christmas 2021.
If you are thinking of Organising for Christmas financially without going into debt or blowing the budget, I’ve already covered some points on how you can manage your finances for the upcoming Christmas season. However, there are more things that you need to look out for when you are planning to make the most of your Christmas time so keep an eye out for part 2 in this preparing for Christmas series.
In this first part of the series, let’s look at 5 tips that can help you organise for Christmas in a better way.
Upgrade Your Decorations
Buying a new Christmas tree and decorations every year is not the most frugal way of decorating. Why not think of how you can upgrade and update your decorations for the festive season instead. This year perhaps you’d like to change the colour scheme of your theme, but you can do this without buying all new decorations. Simple touches such as changing the ribbon colours, spray painting baubles a different colour or using flocking spray to make your decorations look totally different give your Christmas décor a fresh appearance. You may also think of hanging inexpensive candy canes or chocolates that kids can eat right off the tree.
Entertaining Your Guests
As last year not many people were able to visit each other during the Christmas season you may want to go all out this year with going out to celebrate. However, if you don’t want to spend more or want to manage your budget, you can invite friends and family over to cook your meals at home, ask them to bring a dish as well as a bottle or go halves on a takeaway. However, if you have plans to go somewhere it would be a good idea to book the place in advance to keep your cost low.
Food Preparations
Preparing food at the last moment for family and guests can be a huge headache which might ruin your festive mood. On the other hand, the supply chain shortage issue grappling with the UK at the moment could further dampen your festive spirit. Hence, it would be a great idea to know what you will be cooking so that you can order some items in advance. This would also allow you to manage your finances since you are aware of what you want to buy.
If you’re hosting this year then there’s a lot to prepare for Christmas entertaining, so it’s a good idea that you prepare a day earlier so that you can participate and talk with guests instead of being stuck in the kitchen preparing meals. Prepping veg such as peeling vegetables, making stuffing and sauces can all be done easily the day before so you have more time to enjoy the magic of Christmas morning.
Gifting Ideas
Christmas is a great time to give gifts to your family, friends and loved ones. However, you need to work within the budget you have set. There are many ways to manage your budget and keep your expenditure under your control. If you cannot buy gifts for all, it would be sensible to tell them rather than getting yourself stuck in a financial mess, be open with them beforehand; this might even work out better for them so they’d be grateful for the suggestion!
If you are preparing for the Christmas season a bit early you can keep your eyes open for some gift items that are available at discounts and offers. This allows you to spread your expenses over few months instead of buying gifts for all at the last moment when the prices are higher, meaning you can spread the cost over the next 3 payslips too. You can pick and buy random items and gift them as a little hamper which always makes for a lovely, thoughtful gift. We have a present cupboard and when I see something on offer that’s on my list and in the sale I’ll buy it so it’s costing me much less and bought before most of my budget is spent.
Christmas Eve Boxes
While not all families will buy Christmas Eve boxes, it is a great way to bring the family together the night before, and it’s something we’ve been doing in recent years. So, if you are planning to add this to your Christmas celebrations this year you can decide on how you can find the best items that you can add to the box. I found lots of affordable Christmas presents in Home Bargains.
The good part about these boxes is that they are completely personalised so you can fill them with whatever you like. You can add simple pyjamas, a classic Christmas movie, hot chocolate, and a Christmas-theme book and so on and get the excitement building!
Organising for Christmas 2021 in an Efficient Way
When you are thinking of Organising for Christmas early you have the benefit of being able to change how you want to make things happen, spread the cost over many months and potentially spend less money by getting things in the sales. So start making a list of the things that you would like to do and how you can achieve those goals without hurting your budget.
Keep your eyes peeled for part 2 of our Organising for Christmas 2021 series coming soon.
What do you think?