Plan, plan and plan some more.

Christmas is fast approaching and some people have not given any thought to the big day or started any type of preparation and it really bugs me. Now don't get me wrong if people like to leave things to the last minute then that is entirely up to them, but what makes me mad is when they moan about it. I am forever hearing things like 'Hasn't December come round quick this year?', 'I don't know how I'm going to pay for Christmas this year as I only have one payday left before Christmas.' and 'I have so much to do and no time to do it all, I really don't know how I'm going to get everything done. Where did the time go?'

Well, forgive me if I'm being harsh but Christmas is on the same date each year and we all know that it is coming. The date doesn't get withheld from us and then the government suddenly announces the date only giving us a couple of weeks to prepare. We all have the same time in a day and we all have busy lives, that is the way of the world now, but still, people seem to be surprised that Christmas is nearly here.

My advice to those readers that have not yet thought about the holiday is to plan, plan and plan some more. Personally I think that you should start your planning in September as that gives you time to budget your paychecks and plan in a few tasks each week so that come December you know exactly what you are doing and everything is budgeted and you can now relax and know that you have put the hard work in and now you just follow your plan and relax and enjoy the season.

However we are now in December and that means that you have less than a month to get organised, so here is my advice for getting it all done in time. This is a simple plan as of course, you are lacking the time and possibly funds so I thought it best to make this plan as basic as possible.

You need to start by working out how much money you can afford to spend between now and Christmas and then write a list of what you need to buy. If you find that you are not going to have enough money to cover the cost of your Christmas then you have three options. The first option, which under the circumstances is the most sensible option, is to cut some of the things that you were going to buy, reduce the amount you are spending on people and take the cost of this Christmas down to what you have already worked out you can afford to spend. The second option is to write down the difference of what you need and then sell things that you no longer want or need, take a second job or find a way to get the extra money that you need, although, given the time frame, this will be hard to achieve. The final option is to borrow the extra money that you need by using credit cards or catalogues or a loan. This is really not a very good idea as you will be starting the new year in debt which is not a great start to the year.

Once you have sorted your budget, you then need to make several lists. You need your gift list, your activities list, your food and drink list, your decoration list and your other things to do and buy list which covers cards to buy, cards to write, presents to wrap, crackers to buy and so on.

Once you have all of this information you then need your planner or if you do not have one you need to get a note pad or some paper, so that you can write the dates between now and Christmas leaving space to plan your days, so that you can then add tasks to each day so that eventually you will get it all done and of course you can also delegate to family members to help you get everything done in time.

If you are one of those that have left things to the last minute, I hope that this has helped you in some way. You may have to compromise on some of the things that you had been wanting to do or buy in order to get everything done, but it is better to have a Christmas filled with love and family time and within your means then for you to be so stressed and panicked that you do not get a chance to enjoy it or spend time with your family.

If I could offer you one piece of important advice on how to have a stress free organised Christmas, it would have to be, to plan earlier next year!