3 Christmas Lists You Should Be Making Now!

Time is ticking away...it's now just 41 days to Christmas! If you haven't already done so, it's time to write or update these three lists.

Christmas Present List

Write a list of each person you'll be buying Christmas presents for this year. Add the budget for each person's present or, if you prefer, a total budget for Christmas presents. If you know what you'll buy for someone or if you have some ideas, write those on your list, too. Remember to take your list with you when you go shopping and update it with the gifts you've bought and their cost after every shopping trip.

If you usually give your family and friends a wish list of items you'd like for Christmas, don't delay, write your list today! The longer they have to shop for your presents, the more likely it is that they'll buy you want you really want!

Christmas Card List

If you write a list of the people you send Christmas cards to each year, you just need to pull out last year's list and update it.

Put the people who live abroad at the top of the list because you'll need to make sure you send their cards before the Christmas mailing deadlines. Find out what the deadline is for each country and write it next to the person's name on your list.

Consider sending Christmas e-cards to some people on your list. This reduces the amount of paper used at Christmas and means that you spend less on stamps. In addition, you can send a Christmas e-card to anyone in the world as late as Christmas Eve.

Although I'm aware of their advantages, only about a quarter of the Christmas cards I send are e-cards. I enjoy making Christmas cards so I like to send as many handmade cards as possible. I also think that it's still nice to receive a 'surprise' card in the mail but I do understand the convenience of e-cards and I'm happy to receive them.

Christmas Food and Drink List

Decide on a menu for each Christmas meal that you'll be eating at home. If you'll have guests for a particular meal, make a note of how many people you'll need to cater for. Look through magazines and cook books and search the Internet for recipes and ideas.

Once you've decided on the menu, write a list of all the ingredients you'll need, together with all the extra items, such as:

• Sauces, such as cranberry sauce, apple sauce, and mint sauce.
• Cooking foil.
• Baking Paper.
• Snacks.
• Drinks.

When the list is complete, decide which items you can buy in advance. These could include tinned food, packaged items with a long use-by date, and alcoholic drinks. Buy a few items each week to reduce the cost of your last grocery shop before Christmas.

If you take a little time to get organized for Christmas in November, your Christmas preparations will run much more smoothly in December. So, make those lists now!!!