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.