Not many people know what National Leon Day is- but it’s an important date to put in your diary as 25th June is exactly six months away from Christmas. It’s generally a time for crafters to start planning their homemade gifts, however for the organised folk among us, it can be the perfect opportunity to start thinking about the big day to stop you going into debt. Here’s how you can do it.
National Calendar Day on Female First
Make a decision: Are you hosting Christmas this year? Or is someone else in the family? Find out where you are going and what you are doing as this will help you to plan more effectively.
Make a list: Of who you need to buy for and what you need to buy for. This will help you see the total number of purchases you will need to make and encourage you to start thinking about the next step…
Budget: Decide how much you want to spend at Christmas as a whole and how you want to divide this up. What do you want to spend on gifts? Food? Entertainment? Travel? Then establish how much you need to put away each month in order to afford it at the time.
Start to think about gifts: Make a gift list. What do you want to buy for people? Has anyone dropped a hint? Have you put a few things aside already that you’ve bought throughout the year? If so add them to the list so you don’t go over budget for that person.
Put the feelers out: If you have no idea what to get someone as a gift, talk to them and ask them what they really want. Better to get them something they will use rather than something that will be donated or stuffed in a drawer after the celebrations are over.
Start shopping now: If you can, start to purchase things now to save the last-minute panic buying. Any food that has a long shelf life, any gifts that you are certain someone will want, an outfit for your Christmas party or tickets for your travel for instance.
Homemade gifts: If you are planning on making people gifts- what items do you need? When do you need to start making them? When in the week will you dedicate time to this?
Make a personal gift list: People are inevitably going to ask you what you want for Christmas. If you don’t want to end up with a pile of things you are never going to use – start to make a list for yourself too. Then when people come to you and ask the question you can be clear with what you would like from them.