Organized for Christmas doesn’t mean you can’t rest

Time to catch up on anything you haven’t been able to finish thus far. Check your binder. Take a breath. You’ve got this!

If you are not sure of the last time you took a breath, it has been too long! Your next step is to slow down and breathe deeply. Did you know that you think much more clearly when you get a good amount of oxygen to your brain? Or that by filling your brain with more oxygen you are opening receptors to help you react faster, think more clearly and get more done? This is scientific fact, so if you are feeling busy or stressed, it’s time for a nice walk. 20 minutes at a good pace should do all of us some good.

For extra credit, do something to bless your spouse and get him in the holiday spirit. This can be another form of getting oxygen to the brain! Go ahead – have fun with this.

Share your thoughts:

Chat with us and tell us what YOU did on your Catch up Day.

Avoiding Overwhelm:

Be sure to listen to your body throughout the holiday season. It “talks” to us for a reason. What is your body telling you? That it needs to go to bed? Stretch? To eat? Or stop eating?

Do you know how much you actually spend on Christmas? It can be a real eye-opener to look at your Christmas budget. A few dollars here for eggnog, a couple dollars there for the boss’s gift, $5 for the new set of lights because the old ones don’t work or you can’t find them, $20 for the ingredients for the cookies and before you know it you have spent over $100 you hadn’t planned on spending.

It isn’t just money, sometimes it is activities. You say yes to too many Christmas parties, too many shopping trips, or too many volunteer requests. For some reason at Christmas our houses have to be cleaner than normal, we cook and bake more than usual, we have presents to wrap, gifts to make, extra church services to attend and the list goes on. Sometimes we need to put our activities on a Christmas budget so we can enjoy the season.

Take some time today to identify anything you can cross off your list whether it is something causing you stress or unnecessary spending.

If you’re looking to save money this year, throw a budgeting party with friends or family. Exchange gift giving ideas and your favorite coupons or ways to save. You could also bake goodies to gift, work on crafts to give, or order items together to save on shipping or buying in bulk. You’ll get some of your gift giving taken care of, save money, and have fun while doing it!

Assignment: Plan Your Budget for the Holidays (Expenditures of both money and time!)

Use the budget sheet to outline where you anticipate spending money. It is a big holiday and often a huge part of our fall and winter expenses. Planning now will save on surprise expenses and impulse spending more later.

Also, use your calendar and carve out a few evenings or a Saturday when you don’t have outside activities. Keep that time free for you to do the things that matter to you.

For More Details: Get Yourself Organized For Christmas – Page 56

Supplies: 1) a budgeting sheet 2) calendar

Share Your Thoughts:

How does it feel to have a budget in advance? Will this project change how you spend money during the holiday season? How about putting free time on your calendar — did that give you a sense of relief? Did you eliminate an activity?

Avoiding Overwhelm:

Not sure what to eliminate from your budget or your schedule? Don’t forget to pray-cess (process through prayer).

Assignment:   

1. Make a list of everyone you will be making or buying gifts for (jot down a date of when you need to exchange or mail them).
2. Keep notes next to each name of things you think they might like, need or really appreciate. Think about whether they would most appreciate a gift that you bought for them, or maybe they’d love a donation toward a cause and you could do it in their honor? Whatever the case, take a few minutes and decide your plan of attack.
3. Another thing I do ahead of time is window shop. I write down or take pictures of things so I can later add them to my gift list with their price. That way I don’t go nuts spending way too much. Then I go home and make up my real gift list including what I am buying and how much it costs.

Supplies:

The Get Your Christmas Organized Gift List

I actually take this one step further and create my gift list on a spread sheet because I have a budget in mind for each person. All of this is then stored in one place, and when I am at the store I know I can get what I intended and make sure I don’t spend too much doing so! This has helped not only keep me organized, but also keeps me from spending way more than I should have out of guilt, loss of time or impulse purchases.

The idea here is for you to be giving gifts from a place of joy, not last minute stress. Be smart, shop in stages so the hit on the budget isn’t so severe!

For more details: Get Your Christmas Organized page 48

Share Your Thoughts:

How do you tend to get your gift list going? Do you plan it out or just shop and then worry about it later? Do you buy for everyone or just a select few? Share with us what gift giving traditions you have developed or adapted over the years.

Avoiding Overwhelm:

Do you cringe remembering how much you overspent last year (or ten years ago)? Responsibly accept the consequences of poor past decisions by making better choices this year. And by not persecuting yourself for the past. You will feel far less overwhelmed when you stay in the middle ground of accepting responsibility.