Living Simply October Challenge: Day 28 Pulling it all together

     The whole point of this month's challenges is to help you get prepared before you're in the midst of the holiday season, all stressed out, busy with no time left for what's really most important to you. Today's challenge is to begin to really pull it all together this weekend.

1.  Wrapping gifts - we've talked about scheduling several times this month, now it's time to put things on the calendar. Schedule what day you'll wrap your gifts that you are giving.

2.  Shipping - schedule the day to ship anything you're mailing far away, don't wait til the last minute because it costs SO much extra to rush it later, and usually you have to agree that shipping will take longer than usual when paying for those services.

3.  DIY Day - schedule a day or weekend when you'll be making the homemade gifts. There's a post on here about DIY gift ideas, the Day 3 challenge.



4.  Baking - are you planning on baking cookies, bars, pies, etc? Did you know you can make them ahead of time and freeze them until the holidays are here? Pick a day or two for getting all your baking done in one or two shots so you aren't stuck in the kitchen at the last minute.

5.  Meals - plan your holiday meals that you'll be responsible for, whether you're cooking it all, or just making a few things to bring to somewhere else. Include parties, events, and other things that you plan on bringing food. List out all the ingredients on a separate list from your grocery list. Then, bring it with you (or keep it in your wallet so you don't forget it), and whenever you're in the store, take advantage of sale items as they come up. Most people buy ALL their meal ingredients in one week, overspending by hundreds of dollars unnecessarily.  By buying a little at a time at the best prices, it's going to save you lots of money as well as prevent you from having an overwhelming shopping trip. Don't forget to schedule what day you'll be doing the actual cooking too.

6.  Laundry - don't forget to plan a time to wash all the table cloths and napkins, (and iron them if you need to), the guest room linens, pillowcases for the extra pillows for guests, and anything else you normally need for the holidays.

7.  Floors - if you're someone who likes to have the carpets professionally cleaned, or your upholstery cleaned before the holidays, schedule it now, or as soon as the company lets you put a date in the books. The longer you wait, the busier they'll be and you may end up with a very inconvenient scheduling. If you're going to steam clean any grout or tile, or treat your wood floors, plan a time to do it now.

     By having all these things done early, you can get through the holidays with less stress, making more time to intentionally spend with those you care about most. So grab your calendar and start planning.