Planning and Paperwork Week

Are you ready to make a plan ... for an organized holiday season?

This week, we kick off the Houseworks Holiday Plan. Part book group, part get-organized club, we'll travel together toward a calm and stress-free holiday season.

As we begin our journey to a clean and organized holiday house, one job comes first:  organizing planning and paperwork.  Where do you go to pay bills, keep a calendar, or handle the mail?

Whether it's a dedicated home office or a rolling file cart under the dining table, it's time to declutter, organize and clean the planning area.  A holiday prep bonus:  we'll set up a Christmas organizing planning center this week, so we can move ahead with holiday season preparations.

This Week's Focus: Planning and Paperwork
Reading Assignments from Houseworks:

• Housekeeping Skill Set:  Declutter - pages 19-35
  Come up to speed in the war against household clutter.  Learn the STOP clutter method, analyze your clutter personality, and find tips for keeping clutter from coming back.
• Paper Handling - page 226-237
  Declutter and organize Information Central:  your household's paperwork center.

Inspiration from the Web:

• Christmas Organizing Central: Make A Holiday Organizer Notebook
• Before the Season:  Family Values Check-Up
• Planning Ahead for Christmas
• Create a Christmas Holiday Planning Center
• Make A Master Gift List

This Week's Holiday Prep Checklist:

• Make the promise! From now until the holidays, spend a little time each day preparing for the season.
• Set up a Christmas notebook.  Whether it's a simple three-ring binder, a section in a paper planner, or a database on computer or PDA, make a place to hold holiday calendars, planner forms, records and information.
• Focus family values.  Get grounded before you begin:  complete the family values exercise to focus the celebration around what you truly value.
• Create a Christmas planning activity center.  Planning is more pleasant when you have a comfortable space, good lighting and resources at hand.  Designate an area of your home for holiday planning.
• Establish a holiday budget.  Debt is nobody's holiday friend.  This year, set financial limits before you plan the celebration.  Tool of choice:  a holiday budget. 
• Consider a Christmas savings plan. Whether you open a dedicated bank Christmas Club account, set aside cash or add to a gift card balance, begin to accumulate funds for holiday spending now.  Your wallet will thank you, come January!
• Begin a Master Gift List.  Make it now, and check it a lot more than twice:  a master list for gift-giving.

This Week's Forms to Print:

• Houseworks Holiday Plan calendar
• Holiday Planner Cover 
• Holiday Planner Spine
• Family Values Worksheet
• Holiday Budget
• Master Gift List
• Houseworks Holiday Plan Forms Library

This Week On the Message Boards:

This week, we'll declutter, organize and clean our household planning area--and set up a pretty, pleasant place to plan for the holiday season.

We've got lots of ideas about how to get organized for a stress-free holiday season, so join us on the Houseworks Holiday Plan message boards!