Sunday, December 01, 2013

Christmas Countdown: Planning December

As I mentioned in my last post, I love the Christmas season and I don't want it to pass by too quickly!  Just the fact that it is already December 1st seems super crazy.  I think it's because Thanksgiving was so late this year.  Anyway, with that in mind, I realized that I really need to plan for this month--for special things we want to do, make, decorate, etc.  Today was busy and I didn't get the chance to sit down and make a list, but I'm hoping to do that tomorrow!  Usually I use my trusty spiral notebook for such planning, but this year I might just have to use this freebie that I discovered today, thanks to Money Saving Mom!
You can find the free planner here at Frugal Homeschool Family!  

Another freebie that has been really helpful to me already is Dave Ramsey's free My Christmas Budget.  This is a simple online tool where you can set budget amounts for the different people on your list (and I also used it for extra stuff like cards, stamps, Operation Christmas Child shipping, etc.).  As you buy gifts you record what/how much, and the site keeps track of how much you have left for each person or category.  It's very easy to use!

One more thing on my plan for this month is using the Advent study from Good Morning Girls!  The Thanksgiving study was such a huge blessing, and even though I already did the Advent study last year, I'm excited to dig into it again this year!  All the materials are available as free downloads for their blog subscribers, so check it out if you're interested in joining in!


What are your plans for this month?  Are you a list-maker too, or do your prefer to keep this season more spontaneous?

2 comments:

Mrs.T said...

That planner looks wonderful. I love free printables!

I tend to be more of a list-maker. I love spontaneity also, but sometimes one can be more spontaneous if some planning has taken place first. I'm already filling in December's calendar and have crossed quite a few gifts off my list already. No wrapping done, however. I'll put that off until the tree is up so I have a logical place to put the wrapped gifts.

Mrs. Smith said...

Thanks sharing these with us!

I am a list maker, but not always as organized as I should be!

Hope your Dec. has gotten off to a great start! This is just the best time of year, ever!!! :)