Today is Thursday, July 26th, and Christmas is now officially less than six months away (152 days, to be exact). Stop, stop, I know!!!! Don’t throw your coffee mug at the screen! But I’m telling you, now is the time to begin thinking about it. Retailers are! I’ve already seen Halloween decorations on the shelves of some crafting stores. Yep, yep, yep… whether we like it or not, time is marching on and before you know it…
This year, instead of pulling out your hair and running frantically through the stores the day after Thanksgiving trying to grab all the sale items so you can say you saved tons of money and time planning out your gifts, why not start now? You have five solid months before December 1st, and wouldn’t it be amazing to begin December having already done everything you need to prepare for the holidays? Imagine having time to leisurely bake, or watch a Christmas movie (did I mention I’m a Christmas movie-a-holic?)! Having your home clean, organized and ready for whoever might pop in unexpectedly! Having your checking account healthy and strong (and under budget) because you’ve financed your gift-giving purchases over five months as you made smart (and unhurried/unpanicked) selections for thoughtful gifts!
Over at http://www.organizedchristmas.com/ is a great plan called “Houseworks Holiday Plan 2012”, created by Cynthia Ewer, editor and author of the book HouseWorks. Based on her book, she has put together a plan that begins in September and helps you learn to STOP clutter, clean and organize each room of your house while tackling a few holiday preparations each week. The whole goal is for you to have a happy, peaceful and uncluttered/uncrazy holiday season – and wouldn’t that be a lovely gift to give to yourself?
The site also offers something called the Rudolph Club, where on the 25th of each month you do something towards Christmas (for those of you who actually look forward to Christmas each year). And for those of you who are just tired of disorganization and clutter and chaos (CHAOS – Can’t Have Anyone Over Syndrome), there is also the year-round website called http://www.organizedhome.com/, now serving back-to-school shopping tips.
Really… I’m not trying to rush the season, I promise. All I’m asking you to do is take a long-range look to the holidays and start planning little by little now. If you’re hanging out on the beach on vacation, grab some of those catalogs and start ticking off gifts that would be perfect. Budget them out over the next few months. Surf over to the websites that you’d like to shop at for the season, and leisurely work towards what could be your most restful and unstressed holiday season ever.
And even if the Mayans were right, you'll still have 12 days to relax, eggnog in hand...
I’m not sayin’… I’m just sayin’…
Blessings,
No comments:
Post a Comment