Taking Stock for the Holidays: Tips to Simplify and Save $ for the Holidays
It’s the most wonderful time of year…for some. A survey conducted by PR Newswire cites Christmas as the sixth most stressful life event. Yikes. Naturally, as a professional organizer, I strongly believe that good organizing and planning greatly minimizes stress and enhances emotional well-being. Here are six tips to help you find a little more peace and joy this season:
- Gift Giving. Have you bought gifts for people during the year that perhaps you’ve forgotten about? What about random gifts you’ve bought for no one in particular? Now is the time to search throughout your home for all those gift items you already have on hand. Take an inventory of what you have before you go out and buy extras. If you are guilty of this, follow tip #2.
- Create an area, shelf or use a large, clear tub and designate it as your gift area/container. For now on, any gift you purchase (or want to re-gift) goes in this area. A designated gift area will save you both dollars and hours of searching.
- Gift Wrap. Haul out all the gift wrap, tags, tissue, and ribbon before going out and buying double. Then use up all of last years’ before buying more.
- Separate all your holiday wrapping from all other occasions. Unless you’re fortunate to have the space for a gift wrap station in your home, purchase a couple of large, clear plastic containers. One for Christmas/Chanukah wrap and the other for birthday etc. If you tend to have a lot of rolls of gift wrap, tall gift wrap containers save space and protect the rolls. Separate ribbons, tags and tissue and place into individual clear plastic shoe boxes. Keep a spare pair of scissors and tape in the containers year-round.
- Holiday Decorations. A year passes very quickly but we quickly forget what is stored away in our holiday decoration boxes. First go through each box and declutter. Toss or donate any broken items or decorations you no longer love. Perhaps you’ve accumulated too many ornaments, wreaths etc. over the years. If you didn’t put them up last year and you’re not going to this year, it’s time to let them go.
- Holiday Cards place incredible stress (usually on women) before the Holidays. They’re time consuming and can take weeks of preparation. Allow yourself to be less than perfect and simply skip the task this year. If your card is already prepared and you just need help with the list and labels. Contact us! We will compile your holiday card list on a template and print the labels for you.
Looking for the perfect gift this season? Why not give the gift of organization? We offer gift certificates of any amount and can mail or email them to you or your loved one. Contact us today!
Wishing you a very happy holiday season,
From all of us at The Organizing Professionals