How To Keep Your Holidays Organized With Lists

I love lists. I even have a notebook that was given to me as a gift that says that on the cover. It’s true. Lists help keep me organized. They help me feel sane. They help me feel accomplished and in control.

This time of year, it can be extremely difficult to stay on top of everything — especially when you are juggling the delicate balancing act of work and home life, and somehow must additionally throw in getting gifts and attending parties and baking cookies and seeing family and the added pressure of making the holidays feel extra special for the kids.

So, how on earth does one handle all of this and keep it organized and not completely lose their mind? I’m hoping to be able to help you with that this year!

I’ve put together a few of my favorite lists that I use for the holidays that I think will be a huge help for you to keep you organized. I’ve compiled them all into one Ultimate Holiday Planner below if you’d like to download the entire planner, or I’ve broken them out into individual lists as well, for those of you that might like to try them on their own.

LT_UltimateHolidayPlanner

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Download PDF • 1.29MB

Manage Your Budget

This is a great tool to help track your spending for the holidays, which for me can get out of control quickly when I’m not writing down or keeping track of the numbers. I like to set a budget ahead of time, so I have a goal of what I should be spending, and then challenge myself to stay below that.

The downloadable list has an overview page, and then a breakdown for budgeting for gifts, food, decorations, and parties.

LT_HolidayBudgetPlanner

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Download PDF • 614KB

Planning Your Gifts

This is something I love to use to not only track the people I need to get or make gifts for, but also if I’ve wrapped their gifts yet or not. There are pages for friends, family and children, as well as stocking stuffer items, and an online shopping tracker page to help keep track of orders you’ve placed online that haven’t arrived yet.

LT_HolidayGiftsPlanner

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Download PDF • 613KB

Organizing Your Meals

So much of the holidays for my family is based around food, whether it’s big family dinners or Christmas cookie baking, our traditions are what make the holidays feel, well, like the holidays. And trying to remember all of the ingredients needed for every recipe and planning the grocery list for each course for the big Christmas Eve dinner is no easy task. This planner helps make that a little bit easier, with a list of baking items you want to make and a place to track all the supplies and ingredients you’ll need to make each, along with a meal planner to write out your menu for each course and pages where you can itemize your grocery list for the meal.

LT_HolidayMealPlanner

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Download PDF • 575KB

Plan Your Time

I don’t think any ultimate planner would be complete without a daily planner or a to-do list, so I’ve also included this last little section, which includes a Daily Planner for Christmas Eve and Christmas Day, because we all know there are so many things to plan out and get done on those days, that it’s helpful to have it in writing to keep it organized and on track. There is also a Holiday Bucket List so you can compile all of the things you’d like to do or make, either yourself, as a couple or with your family, and shows and movies you’d like to watch. And because my To Do Lists always have To Do Lists of their own, I’ve added an extra To Do List page.

LT_HolidayDailyPlanner

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Download PDF • 545KB

I LOVE seeing your planners and lists in use — so be sure to tag @LifeTranscribed on social media and share a pic if you download any of these and use them.