Gifts and Giving Week

Welcome to Gifts and Giving Week! It's the time we focus on gift lists, gift buying and gift wrapping.

A recent poll at OrganizedChristmas.Com shows that gift-buying wins out as the "biggest holiday organization challenge". During Gifts and Giving Week, we'll give you the tools to get on top of the gift list. Hint: more lists!

For many families, gift-giving is a prime source of holiday financial stress. We'll divide and conquer, spreading gift-buying over a four-week period, and tracking our purchases. Goal: a bountiful, yet sensible holiday free of the bust-your-budget credit card trap.

Ready? Let's get organized for great holiday gifts and giving!

To Do This Week:

• Write and address one-fifth of the Christmas card list this week.
• Finish all catalog and online shopping. Print our catalog and Internet tracker pages to keep track of catalog purchases.
• Use a three-hold punch to add a large manila envelope to the holiday organizer notebook. Place all receipts in the envelope to track purchases, provide for returns.
• Review and renegotiate adult gift giving. Can you simplify your family's "unwritten rules? Draw names and set a price limit for a gift exchange. Could your family dispense with adult gifts in favor of gifts to charity or family service project?
• Finish making all gift lists.
• List all gifts to make. Be stern! Make your list and cut it in half--there's less time than you think. List needed materials and add them to the master shopping list. Begin on "to make" gifts this week. You must make one-fourth of your gifts each week.
• Keep tight tabs on the holiday budget. Add gift purchases and other expenditures as you make them.
• Set up a wrap and mail center. You'll speed gift wrapping and parcel mailing with supplies all in one place.
• Plan Thanksgiving Dinner using the holiday menu planner. Order turkey. Check serving pieces, and write the contents on a Post-it note. Make it easy for other to help!
• Schedule family service projects, or sign up for church charity efforts.
• Reserve baby-sitters for December's nights out.

To Print This Week:

• Week 3 ChecklistGifts 'n Giving Week Checklist
• Catalog Order Tracker
• Internet Order Tracker
• Gifts to Make
• Gift Ideas Planner
• Child's Gift List
• Stocking Stuffers
• Holiday Menu Planner

To Read This Week:

• Simple Gifts
  Ponder the true nature of giving.
• The Unwritten Rules of Gift-Giving
  Get a grip on the rules that guide gift-giving assumptions. Does your family observe the same rules?
• The Three Cs of Catalog Shopping
  It's the best of all worlds: great selection, no lines, no jangling cash registers. Get up to speed for the catalog deluge.
• Think Consumable!
  Simplicity. Frugality. Great holiday gifts. Find a way to serve all these values.
• Frugal Christmas Cheats Save Time, Save Money
  Cut financial corners without losing the joy? Try these tips for holiday savings.

To Buy This Week:

• Continue Christmas gift shopping. Divide the master gift list into five sections. Purchase gifts for one-fifth of the List entries. Wrap gifts as they are purchased. Keep a running total of gift expenditures.
• Buy materials and supplies for all "to make" gifts.