31 Things to do before Christmas – Make a list

(This is #4 of 31 in the 31 Things to do series)

Making a List

As you can probably tell from my posts by now, I love lists. I find it hard to function and stay on task without lists.

I also feel the need to write everything down. There is a saying that goes "What get measured gets done". For me, what first gets written down, gets measured and then gets done. I have too much going on in my life and in my mind to rely on my memory. Once I get it out of my head on to paper, I can free that much needed space in my mind to focus on other things.

So naturally, I feel that one of the first and most important things you should do BEFORE you start your Christmas shopping is to make a list of all the people you will buy for.

Have you ever gotten down to the wire, maybe the week of or even worse, the day before Christmas, and realized there was one more person you forgot? How did you feel? Didn't like it did ya? Well from now on you can never have that experience again. Make your list now, and most of all (the hard part) STICK TO IT.

Try to have your list complete by Thanksgiving, (get it, the day before "Black Friday", sales, deals?).

As of today, my list consists of the following. But it is still early and most likely this will probably be changing slightly.

1. Kids



2. Sister



3. Mom and Dad, Mother-in-law



4. Nieces and nephews (8 total)

Notice a few things about my list.

Number 1, I have included only immediate family members only on my list, and I didn't even include some of my siblings, nieces and nephews. That's because when you are on a tight budget, you have to accept that you can not and should not even try to buy Christmas gifts for everyone. I have a huge family, and many acquaintances and co-workers that I am close to. If I buy for everyone, I will be in the poor house. I included one sister because she is the youngest, has no kids and some other special circumstances. I included the nieces and nephews who are in the greatest need, are not grown yet, and that I regularly see or communicate with.

Number 2, I have included only people not items on this list. In a later step I will break this list down into individual gift ideas for each person on this list.

Number 3, I have color-coded my list. In case I start running out of money, the different colors represent who I will spend my limited dollars on.

Like I said, it is still early, there's still over two months until Christmas, and a month and a half until my self-imposed Black Friday deadline, so this will probably change, once I tally up all of my Christmas budget funds. If I see where I will have more money to spend, then I can add other family members, friends and co-workers to my list.