Tips for a Stress(less) Christmas

Every year I tell myself that I am going to buy gifts earlier then December and that I am going to get the decorating done right after Thanksgiving. Well I can tell you that it’s December 18th and I still have to finish Christmas shopping and there are no lights outside my house right now. I can’t believe how quick Christmas seems to be coming this year. I have spoken to friends and family on both sides of the spectrum and it seems some are totally ready for Christmas while others are stressing about getting things done. Now it might be too late for me, but these are some things that may be helpful to you and that I plan to keep in mind for Christmas next year….I hope!

1. Start Saving! I started my Christmas club with HCCU 2 years ago and this has help so much with our Christmas budget. I put away $25 per pay check and come October I have around $650 saved. I can’t imagine where I would have pulled that money from if I hadn’t been saving all year long. Christmas gifts get expensive so save your money to save you the stress.

2. Start decorating after Thanksgiving! I usually end up working the day after Thanksgiving and in the past I always ended up decorating the Saturday after Christmas. I don’t know what my procrastination was this year, but I didn’t get my decorations up until 2 weeks ago. Decorate early so that you have time to pick up decorations that you may need to replace or update It also allows you to enjoy your decoration efforts for a lot longer.

3. Start shopping early! My mom used to always start shopping after Christmas. She said that is when you get the best deals. I used to work in retail so I know that this is true especially when it comes to Christmas items. Some Christmas clearance starts at 70% on December 26th. Think about how much you can get done if you do not have to shop in December. You also won’t have to deal with crowds and trying to figure out what people want. Try to keep in mind when you hear your friends and family talking about things they want throughout the year and pick those items up right away. Again, whatever you can get done early will make you less stressed.

4. Don’t try to please everyone! My boyfriend has divorced parents so we are bound to at least 3 Christmases each year. Add in Christmas with our extended families and that can be a lot! We tell ourselves each year that our immediate family comes first. We always make it to my parent’s house each year, his mom’s house and his dads. If we can fit our extended families in as well we do, but we don’t go to every party that we get invited to. This allows us to enjoy Christmas and not feel like all we are doing is traveling all day long.

5. Limit your spending! Each year it feels like we are spending more and more on Christmas gifts. Each year I tell myself that we are going to cut back and it seems like we continue to buy more. While our families always come first I decided this year to cut back on buying all of our friend’s gifts. Instead of buying gifts we decided to go out and have a nice dinner. Each couple ends up spending $100 on gifts, that money can pay for a really nice dinner and then you are not buying things that your friends could go out and buy themselves.

So there you have it. These are some great tips on how you can make the holidays a bit less stressful. I can’t tell you how many times I hear people say that they don’t like Christmas because of all the work that they need to do. Keep these tips in mind and you may just have a Merry Christmas after all!

Written By: Katie B.