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The Frugal Homemaker

Your guide to turning your house into a home... one DIY project and yard sale find at a time

Plan ahead using a calendar (Day 11 of 31 days to take the Stress out of Christmas

October 11, 2014

31 days to take the Stress out of Christmas - large This post is part of a series – “31 days to take the Stress out of Christmas”.  You can read all the posts in the series here.  And to make sure you don’t miss a post you can subscribe to have every post delivered to your inbox, or follow me on facebook.

Plan ahead using a calendar - 31 days to take the Stress out of Christmas

Planning… and planning ahead.  That is one way to help take the stress out of anything.I know one of the major things I am going to work on this year in striving to have a stress-free Christmas is to create and then stick very close to my calendar and to-do lists.  I strive to be paper-free as much as possible just for my sanity and I use and LOVE Google calendar.  It syncs from my phone to my computer and I can add/edit events on either one.  I use it keep track of EVERYTHING from doctor appointments, nursery schedule at church, blog posts, blog deadlines, birthdays, activities – everything.  I can set reminders to alert me on my phone a day or week or hours before the event.  I don’t use a paper calendar for planning at all.  Althought I do have a paper calendar hanging on my fridge just for date references but I don’t schedule anything on it.

BUT, for Christmas and honestly the months of November and December I think I am going to print out a calendar and write down every event on it and put it on the fridge.  That way my husband and I both see it and I think seeing it 3 times (ahem… or more!) a day will help too.  There are SOOO many extra events in December that really can add to the stress – Christmas programs, Christmas parties, celebrating Christmas with different parts of family and then add to that all the extra things that need to get done too – pictures, cards, gifts, baking.  Having it all laid out on a calendar should help allow for more planning ahead.

What kind of calendar do you keep?  Do you do it all online?  On a calendar on the fridge or a small day planner in your purse?

If you would like a printable calendar to use for months of November/December here’s a few for you.

Download this set at IHeart Organizing.

HolidayPlannerPrintables

And here’s another one at The Scrap Shop

And you can also do a google search and come up with a lot of other free printables.

Here’s the one I printed out.

2014 printable calendars

So you have homework for today!  Sit down and fill out (either online or on a paper calendar) all the events you already know about in November/December.  This may also prompt you to go ahead schedule a few things too – when will you have your annual Christmas party, get pictures done, celebrate Christmas with your in-laws?  Then as more events come to light make sure they all get added to your master calendar. 

5 Comments LABELS ~ 31 days to take the Stress out of Christmas

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Comments

  1. Teresa H. Fields says

    October 11, 2014 at 3:17 PM

    Thanks so much for this series. I am really enjoying them. For a Mom of 6 (3 married), 2 grandchildren etc., the holidays get crazy. Plus I end of hosting most of the extended family events now. I have always kept a budget, and stayed organized, but your post have been helpful to glean new ideas. I really liked todays and printed many of the forms!!

    Reply
    • Christina says

      November 4, 2014 at 12:19 AM

      so glad!

      Reply
  2. Stacey says

    October 11, 2014 at 10:06 PM

    I’m still a calendar on the wall kind of girl. This is such a great idea though. I might add stocking stuffers to my list this week. Thanks for the inspiration.

    Reply
    • Christina says

      November 4, 2014 at 12:19 AM

      you are welcome! Glad you are enjoying it!

      Reply
  3. Heather @ Thrifty Stories says

    October 13, 2014 at 6:14 PM

    I love making schedules…and having them on our family board {bulletin board}. Thanks for sharing the printables. 😉

    Reply

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Hi!  My name is Christina . . .

I love doing simple, frugal things to make our house feel like HOME! Come learn along with me how to have a beautiful home on a budget.

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