About the Christmas Countdown

Christmas. The holidays. Chances are, those words send happy images straight to your heart!

Children's faces, breathless with wonder and delight. Shining lights on a beautifully trimmed Christmas tree. Delicious scents of fresh cookies and hot cider. A bounty of gifts, wrapped and beribboned. The cheerful hubbub of family members gathered from far-flung homes.

problem: stress and the season

To those happy images of Christmas, many add another: stress! For these people, the holiday season adds a whole new set of challenges and chores to already-busy lives.

Shopping for gifts. Wrapping gifts. Mailing gifts, and having a nice long chat with the other sore-footed folks in line at the Post Office.

Preparing holiday meals that require two extra ovens, three extra hands and every serving dish in the house. Baking enough cookies to provision the entire National Football League.

Bedding down houseguests in their choice of Little Mermaid or G.I. Joe sheets--no matching pillowcases--and setting the firstborn to guard the doors of jam-packed closets from curious visitors.

solution: think christmas--all year?

Some propose a solution for Christmas organizing: plan, shop and bake for the holidays the year around! Christmas carols warble in the heat of July as they pull a batch of sugar cookies from an immaculate oven.

Christmas Year-Rounders buy their gift-wrap in January and they remember where they stored it, come December. They craft tree ornaments in February, knit sweaters in July, and have their freezer stocked with goodies by October, at the latest!

Then there are the rest of us, who just can't get with this admirable plan. We wince when Christmas gift-wrap hits store shelves in July. Each and every January, we promise to spread gift-buying over the year's 12 months, but each November, we open that special "gift drawer" to find a single jar of home-canned peach salsa, a pair of slightly melted handmade candles, and two freebie watches acquired with cereal box tops.

Are you one of us? Don't be ashamed! We love the holiday season, really we do. But for one reason or another, we simply can't find our holiday spirit outside the holiday season. We resist the Christmas Year-Round approach, recognizing that the preparation, as much as the celebration, is a component of a joyous holiday.<

We just wish we had a little more time!

answer: simplify your holidays

Be of good cheer! It is possible to get organized for the holiday season without thinking "Christmas" 365 days a year.

Our Christmas Countdown is based on sixteen years' observation of the actual holiday preparations of thousands of families. By tracking the rhythm of the weeks before the holiday season, the Countdown provides a day-by-day road map to follow for an organized holiday.

In the six weeks between the last full week of October and the first Saturday in December, we will simplify the holidays into small weekly checklists. Week by week, we'll organize, decide, budget, buy, prepare and celebrate in a natural cycle designed to bring us to the height of the season in a calm, unforced way and without making holiday preparation a year-round preoccupation.

If you follow the Countdown, will this be the year you scoop your Christmas Year-Rounder neighbor for the newspaper's holiday decorating award? No, and your home won't be mistaken for Martha Stewart's, either!

Accepting life's limits--and reaching for a simpler, more meaningful celebration--is an essential element of the Christmas Countdown. The Countdown aims to debunk feel-good holiday myths that catch us up in November, only to dump us flat on a cold day in February with nothing but a fistful of credit-card statements to show for the ride.

We won't try to do it all, but to do what is valuable, what is meaningful, and what is central to our hearts, our families and our vision of the holiday. We'll do less ... and enjoy it more.

2009 Christmas Countdown Calendar

Printable 2009 plan calendar for Christmas Countdown Christmas organizing plan from OrganizedChristmas.com.

Print this page in .PDF format.

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Giving a copy of our Christmas planner as holiday gift this year?

Include this 2010 Christmas Countdown calendar. You'll get organized together ... next year!

Get Organized Week

Welcome to Get Organized Week!

The first week of the Countdown is a time for planning and calendars and lists, for setting our values and our course. As we break down holiday preparations into small, simple steps, we'll sketch out the outline of the holiday season to come.

This week, we begin to build a Christmas planner or notebook, assess the state of the house, and enjoy the Halloween festivities. Ready? Let's get organized for a stress-free Christmas season!

To Do This Week:

• Make the promise! Spend 15 minutes each day this week to get organized for Christmas.
• Get comfortable for holiday planning--create a Christmas holiday planning center
• Set up your Christmas planner in a notebook or three-ring binder.
• If you're using a clear pocket binder, print the cover and spine pages. Insert in pockets of your clear-view binder
• Add blank lined pages for any notes and records.
• Make or designate a holiday planning calendar. For your Christmas holiday planner, print the Countdown plan calendar. Want more flexible calendar forms?
• Add monthly planning calendars as needed.
• Begin at the beginning: review your family's holiday values. Print and record your findings on the holiday values page.
• Gift-buying looms! Start a master gift list. Print the master gift list form and use it to record purchases and home-made gift items.
• Begin a Christmas card list. Locate addresses, and consider making a computerized Christmas card address list for maximum time savings. Or, print a Christmas card list for your Christmas planner notebook.
• Print a home spruce-up worksheet and complete the holiday home spruce-up exercise. Plan and schedule any pre-holiday home improvement projects.
• Will your family travel this holiday season? Make travel plans and reservations this week.
• Will you host houseguests this year? Make arrangements for any overnight guests.
• Make an appointment for family photo sessions for holiday giving or photo Christmas cards.
• Schedule carpet cleaning now! As the holidays approach, business picks up. Call now for your choice of appointment times.

To Print This Week:

• Christmas Countdown Calendar
• Holiday Planning Calendars
• Get Organized Week Checklist Form
• Notebook Cover
• Notebook Spine
• Holiday Values Worksheet
• Master Gift List
• Gift Ideas Planner
• Christmas Card List
• Holiday Home Spruce-Up Form

To Read This Week:

• Ready ... or Not?
  Frantic at the thought of the approaching holidays? You're not alone!
• Create A Christmas Holiday Planning Center
  Set aside a dedicated spot for holiday planning.
• Christmas Notebook Tours and Resources
  Clever solutions from readers on the Web. Get inspired with these notebook tours and resources.
• Before the Season: Family Values Check-up
  Focus on your family's values!
• Tips for Holiday Season Travel
  Will your family travel this year? Make it an organized trip!
• Seven Tips for Sparkling Christmas Letters
  Ready to pen a memorable holiday letter? Catch these tips!
• Simpler Seasons Greetings: Using Computers to Send Christmas Cards
  Will computers ease the chore?
• Holiday Home Spruce-Up!
  Organize and prune holiday home improvement projects.
• Welcome Home!
  Consider what makes a holiday home.

To Buy This Week:

• Christmas cards or supplies for Christmas letters
• Holiday stamps

Reality Check Week

Warning! Reality check ahead!

It's week two of the Christmas Countdown, and time to consider the darker side of the holiday. Though we may not be conscious of them, hidden holiday forces work to over-run our budgets and distort our decision-making.

Not to worry! Coming face to face with the reality of outside pressures will make us stronger--and we'll be empowered to bring our celebrations within the circle of our own values.

Ready? Let's get organized!

To Do This Week:

• Divide Christmas card list into five groups. Write and address one group this week.
• Make a holiday budget. Work together with your spouse to set a comfortable level of holiday spending. We make it easy with our printable holiday budget form. Add a printable master shopping list to speed errand days.
• Do your visual field a favor with a quick decor declutter. A clean sweep now makes holiday decorations all the more impressive!
• Set up a holiday housework plan. Print our chore checklist form. Post it publicly and hold family members accountable for delegated tasks.
• Make a family wardrobe check. Fill out the family wardrobe worksheet, and put any "To Buy" items on your shopping list.
• Print a master shopping list, to organize shopping excursions through the holiday season.
• Do you keep a gift closet, adding new gift items year-round? Take inventory now, before you shop for holiday gifts. Use our printable gift closet inventory form.
• Establish good health habits to cushion you and your family from holiday stresses. Focus on regular bedtimes, proper diet, mild exercise and stress reduction.
• Perform a tabletop check. Inventory serving pieces, table linens, china and flatware. Check store flyers for sales. Will you be ready to set a pretty holiday table?
• Schedule family haircut appointments.
• Check smoke, carbon monoxide detectors on Time Change Sunday. Change the batteries and test detectors to keep your family safe.

To Print This Week:

• Reality Check Week Checklist
• Holiday Budget
• Master Shopping List
• Holiday Chore Checklist
• Wardrobe Checklist
• Gift Closet Inventory

To Read This Week:

• Ten Simplicity Strategies for a Stress-Free Holiday Season
  Sneaky ways to turn down holiday stress and create a simpler celebration.
• The Selling of the Holiday Season
  Holiday budget woes? Clear your vision from the pressure of market forces.
• The Secret Life of Christmas Magazines
  They're heeerrree! Get armed against the forces of dissatisfaction.
• Whose House for the Holidays?
  Mom's house, dad's house, his house, her house? Few decisions cause as much stress for young families as where to spend the holidays.
• One Right Way to Celebrate? Wrong!
  Unrealistic expectations? Get armed with a good dose of reality therapy.

To Buy This Week:

• Begin 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 and enter on the holiday budget form.
• Purchase any needed holiday clothing for family members.

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 Organized Christmas 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.
• 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 all catalog and online shopping. Print our catalog / Internet tracker page to keep track of catalog purchases.
• Finish making all gift lists.
• Use a three-hole punch to add a large manila envelope to the Christmas planner notebook. Place all receipts in the envelope to track purchases, provide for returns.
• 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.
• Swapping with friends is a great way to share holiday gifts, crafts and decor. Will you swap with other members of online communities? Track swaps with free printable Swaps Tracker and Swaps Directory forms for your Christmas planner.
• 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!
• 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.
• Schedule family service projects, or sign up for church charity efforts.
• Reserve baby-sitters for December's nights out.

To Print This Week:

• Gifts 'n Giving Week Checklist
• Internet / Catalog Order Tracker
• Gifts to Make
• Swaps Tracker
• Swaps Directory
• 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.

Get Cooking Week

It's all things cooking at the Countdown, as we swing into Get Cooking! week.

We'll plan holiday meals and menus, save money on holiday meals, prepare easy freezer entrees for busy December nights, and make holiday baking easier.

Ready? Let's get cooking for stress-free Christmas holidays!

To Do This Week:

• Write and address one-fifth of Christmas card list this week.
• Make one-fourth of gifts to make this week.
• Fill out a holiday menu planner form for each remaining holiday meal that you will serve in your home. Check serving pieces, and write the contents on a Post-it note. Make it easy for other to help!
• Inventory the freezer, and record contents on the freezer inventory form. Plan to eat from the freezer this week and next week, making room for holiday meals and holiday goodies. Use food budget savings to stock up on holiday staples.
• Start planning holiday baking with the baking planner form, and be alert for supermarket specials. Try to buy nonperishable holiday foods this week and next week for all upcoming holiday meals.
• Do a mini-freezer cooking session to put 5 to 10 pre-made entrees into the freezer. Use these meals on busy December evenings.
• Prepare for drop-in visitors. Collect hospitality supplies: cheeses, crackers, frozen desserts. Hide from hungry family members using creative labeling.
• Simplify baking chores: organize a Cookie Swap. Invite 6 to 12 guests to bring as many dozen cookies as there are guests. Swap so that each guest leaves with a lavish assortment of holiday goodies. Freeze immediately, marked as "liver and onions."

To Print This Week:

• Get Cooking Week Checklist Form
• Holiday Menu Planner
• Freezer Inventory Form
• Pantry Inventory Form
• Holiday Baking Planner
• Potluck Planner
• "Black Friday" Holiday Sales Planner

To Read This Week:

• Save Money on Holiday Meals
  Catch our best money-saving tips.
• Beat The Holiday Grocery Game
  Chill the cost and stock the pantry!
• Baking Solution: Make it a Specialty!
  Beat the baking blues with a baking specialty!

To Buy This Week:

• Continue Christmas gift shopping. Purchase gifts for one-fifth of the list entries. Wrap gifts as they are purchased. Keep a running total of gift expenditures.
• Trim the regular food budget to stock up on sale-priced holiday non-perishables. Make a Thanksgiving Friday grocery shopping trip for best savings.

Decorate Week

American Thanksgiving is near ... and we've reached Decorate Week at the Christmas Countdown. Time to turn our thoughts to holiday decorations.

This week, we'll discover secrets of frugal holiday decorating, take a quick decorations inventory, enjoy giving thanks with family and friends on Thanksgiving Day and begin decorating for Christmas. It's a busy week (and the holidays are here!) so let's decorate ... for a stress-free Christmas season!

To Do This Week:

• Write and address one-fifth of Christmas card List this week.
• Make one-fourth of gifts to make this week.
• Set up holiday tearfiles. Use tearfiles for ideas for holiday decorating. Save for next year!
• Inspect and inventory decorations. Record results on our holiday decoration inventory. Check light strands for cracked or broken bulbs. Add needed replacements to the master shopping list.
• Does your family give children new ornaments each year? Preserve the memories along with the gift. Use printable ornament memory record pages to keep the gift alive!
• Prepare for Thanksgiving dinner, baking desserts and salads ahead.
• Give thanks on Thanksgiving Day!
• Check in with family members at Thanksgiving celebrations. Ask for gift suggestions, and arrange to share or contribute to holiday meals.
• Begin interior and exterior decorating.

To Print This Week:

• Decorate Week Checklist
• Room-By-Room Decor Planner
• Holiday Decor Inventory
• Decor Storage Planner
• Ornament Memories Journal

To Read This Week:

• Frugal Holiday Decorating Tips
  A lovely holiday home ... on a budget? Get our best frugal home decorating tips.
• (There's No Such Thing As) A "Perfect Christmas"
  Help for the harried (and A Tale of Two Turkeys). Give up Christmas perfectionism for happy holidays!

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.
• Purchase new holiday decor items

Celebrate Week

We're here and it's time to celebrate!

Celebrate! Week sees us into the full swing of the holiday season, prepared (or nearly so) for a great holiday with family and friends.

During Celebrate! Week, we complete gift shopping, mail Christmas cards, plan parties and put the finishing touches on holiday decorations. During this phase of the Countdown, we also gather information--memories, traditions, debriefing--that will guide our preparations for next year.

Ready to celebrate? Let's get organized!

To Do This Week:

• Write and address final one-fifth of Christmas card List this week. Mail all cards by December 10.
• Complete the final one-fourth of gifts to make this week. If the gifts have not been completed, put them away for next year. Add any needed replacements to the master gift list.
• Complete gift shopping. Wrap and mail send-away gifts by December 6.
• Plan holiday parties using free printable party planning forms. Plan the event with the party planner form, track and record RSVPs on the guest list, and keep the lid on finances with the party budget form.
• Begin a family Advent observance. Use an Advent wreath, calendar or daily family activity to underscore your spiritual values.
• As a family, broaden your own observance by learning more about other holiday traditions.
• Record each year's special traditions on a holiday tradition tracker form. Add new ideas, and record your family's reaction. Keep the memories alive!
• Set aside favorite holiday books, music and video for use during the season. Print a Holiday Favorites inventory form to remind you of what's in the family library.
• Does your family collect holiday figurines, houses or collectibles? Print a Holiday Collections form and inventory Christmas collectibles for your Christmas planner.
• Order poultry or special roasts for any holiday meals held in your home.
• Cultivate a calm and quiet home during the height of the season. Turn the television off, and substitute reading one evening each week.
• Complete interior and exterior decorating. As a last touch, decorate the front door as a symbol that you are ready to celebrate!
• Get resolved! Consider New Year's resolutions carefully, and maximize your chances of following through by writing them down on a New Year's resolution form!
  January 5, hold a holiday debriefing. Record impressions, memories and solutions to guide next year's holiday!

To Print This Week:

• Celebrate! Week Checklist Form
• Party Planner
• Party Budget
• Party Guest List
• Tradition Tracker
• Holiday Memories
• Holiday Favorites
• Holiday Collections
• New Year's Resolutions Record
• Holiday Debriefing

To Read This Week:

• "Gimme, Gimme" v. Doing Good: Teaching Children to Give
  Attention, parents! CEO's most requested essay. Bring the spirit of giving to the children of your family.
• Make It A Family Affair
  Mom, let go those holiday burdens. Families that work together, celebrate together.
• Simplify Holiday Traditions
  Stop reading those women's magazines!
• Party Time! Four Steps to Easy Entertaining
  Brush up your party smarts and become the hostess with the mostest!.
• New Year, New You: Keeping New Year's Resolutions
  This time, make New Year's resolutions ... and keep them, too, with these easy tips.
• Hold a Holiday Debriefing
  A last exercise, to be done after the season ends.

To Buy This Week:

• Purchase gifts for the final one-fifth of the master gift list, together with any gift substitutes for uncompleted "to make" gifts.
• Wrap gifts as they are purchased. Keep a running total of gift expenditures and watch the holiday budget!
• Buy fresh trees, wreaths and garlands.