Holiday Time & Money Savers

Save time, money, and your sanity over the holidays.  Here are my tips to make your holidays full of love and joy:

• Make a budget and stick to it.  Don’t forget to include any charitable gifts you’ll make at year end.  Keep a copy for next year, so you have a starting place.

• Schedule shopping days during less busy times so you won’t wait in really long lines.  With only three and a half weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas stores will be more crowded this year.  According to this list, the busiest shopping days before Christmas, will be:

1. 11/29/2019 – Black Friday
2. 12/21/2019 – Super Saturday (Saturday before Christmas)
3. 12/26/2019 – Day after Christmas, aka “Boxing Day,” in some global regions
4. 12/14/2019 – Two Saturdays before Christmas
5. 11/30/2019 – Saturday after Black Friday
6. 12/22/2019 – Sunday before Christmas
7. 12/23/2019 – Monday before Christmas
8. 12/28/2019 – Saturday after Christmas
9. 12/27/2019 – Friday after Christmas
10. 12/07/2019 – First Saturday in December

I don’t plan to be anywhere near a mall on any of the first five dates!

• If possible, wrap gifts as you bring them home.  This will avoid staying up all night on Christmas Eve.  Set up a gift-wrapping container with scissors, tape, tags, ribbons, and bows that you can take to a place away from prying eyes. 

• If you see the dreaded words “Some Assembly Required,” read the assembly directions in advance and count on it taking twice as long as it should to put it together.  Gather the tools you need before you assemble.  Trust me, hunting for the right size screwdriver at 2am is not conducive to a happy Christmas morning.  When our kids were little we learned that Pam and a rubber mallet were the only things that worked to put the big house with the slide together.

• Buy the right size batteries now, so they’re ready to put in the new toys.

• Schedule time to relax and enjoy the holidays with your family and friends.  People will remember the time you spent with them longer than the gifts you gave.

Copyright© 2019 Elizabeth Tawney Gross, Organizing For Everyday, LLC