To ask your best tips to make Christmas easy and stres free?

I over book stuff usually but this year I’ve drawn a line. One meal booked for just after

I’ve got turkey dinner planned

Im paring back decs less trees and faff

I will just do stuff if I feel like it eg local market /meal

Reduce expectations. Reduce commitments. Don't spend more than you can afford. You don't need to spend hundreds and loads of time on Christmas markets, santa trips, expensive meals out and so on. Those things are nice enough but if they are stressing you cut them.

Some of these replies are really sad .
I;m not looking for a Hallmark Film Christmas but I remember when I was a child ( in the 1970s ) Christmas was much lower key . But my DMum really CBA with any of it .
Yes we had presents (usually one from DParents and one from Aunt and Gran . Along the lines of a toy or similar , sweets , nightie , Avon soap)
Mum didn't decorate . We had Christmas Dinner but whoever was in the kitchen (either a family friend who visited or me when I was about 12) cooked it , otherwise it wouldn;t be done .

"I wish I could go to sleep and wake up on NYD"
"My favourite day is Boxing Day when it;s all over"
Two of her favourite trotted out phrases .

It was always a bit Is that it ? especially as my friends' Christmases were different
And both Church goers so very much into the real meaning of Christmas .

When I had my DC (now adults ) I planned and wanted things seamless.
Food shopping , I went to Sainsbury with my Nectar Points and DH took the DC to the cinema and when they finished I was there "to drive you home"

I love the planning and slow burn. I don;t have everything done by December but enough that we can enjoy it , and I like cooking the dinner , throw everyone out of the kitchen and follow my lists .

Don't wrap presents, just reuse gift bags.

Don't go to multiple theatre shows in the week before Christmas. We were all really ill over Christmas, toppling like dominos, and I'm sure one of us started it by catching something at the theatre.

I don't buy for many people, so that helps. I'd reduce my shopping list to save time, money, and mental bandwidth. Most people are happy to agree to put an end to gift exchanges. Same thing with cards, except for possibly a special few. I try to shop early, but that's not always easy to do.

Relax expectations and focus on the bits that you enjoy most or find the most meaningful.

In my family, we usually split the work of cooking, which reduces a lot of the pressure and effort. Also be open to trying non-traditional foods, if that's not as important to your family.

I'm a list-maker. It helps me keep track of what I need or want to do, timings, etc. But this is far earlier than I begin thinking about Christmas!

I don’t do anything, I just ignore all the shenanigans, relax and enjoy the break from work. Don’t bother going to anything, it’s expensive, usually rubbish, cold and wet.

That makes sense, although I don't make my own Christmas cake so I wouldn't do that. I di see the sense of it, though. I will admit to being baffled at making extensive plans months in advance.

Ah, well, the first thing on my aforementioned list is "make Christmas Cake".

I make it in September, give it an alcohol infusion, wrap it up and ignore it in October. In November it gets fed every Sunday afternoon, then Marzipaned and iced in mid December.

So Christmas prep starts for me in September.

Not worry about others. Hubby and I are chilling this year. Quiet as possible. Slow cooker meal and tv.

We have a very festive prep weekend at the start of December. I do the decoration and tree, DH does food prep for the freezer which in part ties into a nice meal that weekend e.g. we do a cranberry ham and the stock gets used for the freezer, massive batch of mac’n’cheese with leftovers frozen for Boxing Day or to have with Christmas leftovers etc.

I try and finish off my shopping in November so December is free for fun things.

I don't start thinking about it in September, that's for sure. It is three months away!!

If I see something during the year and this "oh X will like that", I buy it - assuming that it isn't perishables. I also have a Word document that I paste links into if I spot something and don't want to buy on the spot. For nieces /nephews that are all over 16, they get a small present to open and an envelope with some cash as the main part of the gift, which they seem to appreciate a lot. Partner and I spend a max of £50 on each other.

Xmas dinner is M&S/Waitrose, whichever has the thing that looks the nicest.

I've found that taking a day off a few days/week or so before Xmas works well, as it enables purchase of last minute things. This worked very well when my kids were of school age as it meant a day when they weren't around.

Start early. For me, Christmas prep is a holistic, ongoing thing all year. I buy my wrap, cards and a few stocking fillers in the immediate sales then store them in my loft boxes with a photo/note on my phone. I buy any bits I happen to see throughout the year. My Christmas Chutney is already made for teacher gifts. Then it’s the final push in Dec (I’ve worked out who doesn’t want to think about it until then, so focus on them nearer the time 👌🏻).

I’m much the same… so far the quality street tins are unopened…but watch this space!!

I am sad, but I have a list I typed up about 20 years ago of what needs to be done and roughly when.

I have amended and honed it over the years as things have changed.

But it helps me. Follow the plan and it all gets done.

The chocolates...if you are going to buy them, dont hide them! I found ours at Easter (I think) and they are still in the Cupboard of Doom where foodstuffs go to die. They'll be out of date this year, but I dont care.

Totally ignore it.

But you don’t have to have waste and the crap music etc!

What I meant was, it’s time spent with people you love, eating some great food and relaxing. Surely people enjoy that?

Red cabbage is better made ahead.
Christmas cookies are best made the weekend of... otherwise there will be none left to eat.
We do one tree, decorations downstairs only. Same Christmas candle has been going strong for years.
I do enjoy a Christmas bauble shop but that's more for variety rather than a must.
Lots of Christmas spices in everything.
This year I'm hoping to force some paperwhites as a present to myself.
I find a glass of wine, wrapping paper and all that gets done in one evening but we only do immediate family.
Christmas hamper for dear relative abroad.

Gift wise I am planning to pare it back for the kids. Two under 5, they get way too much so might do that read, eat play thing.

I don't do Christmas cards. Me, DH and DS11 spend Xmas at home, just the 3 of us, have done for the last 2 years. We have Xmas dinner on Xmas eve and cook extra meat so we have leftovers for a few days.
No cooking on Xmas day, maybe shove some part baked rolls in the oven.
We literally just do whatever we want for 2-3 days, we love it.

This

I think people plan too much which then causes anxiety when things change or don’t go to plan. This year I plan on making no plans. My dc are now adults and I’m so done with Christmas and all the hype. We will have a roast dinner and visit friends and family, I don’t really need to plan for that. So for now….I am ignoring Christmas.

Same, I have fond memories of eating them with my late father. But now they've lost their charm, but I find a lot of chocolate is of poorer quality these days.

Don't overdo the roast. 90% of it can be prepped the day before to result in a simple schedule of a couple of trays going in and out of the oven. Slaving for hours is a mugs game.

I live alone so this won't resonate with the majority but last year my only decoration was a real 6ft tree

this year I'm doing even less: a little 3-4 ft tree on the coffee table.

that's it.

For years I decorated the house like I had a family and lived in Country Living magazine and for what?? I never have visitors at Christmas they're all too busy with their own families!

My top tip would be to avoid it all, but obviously some people want or need to do it. Last year we did so little the whole thing took less than an hour.

But choose the bits you like, do those and ignore the rest. Stay off Instagram, who cares how many presents/baubles/turkeys anyone else has? Avoid the shops, they will just be full of nonsense and make you think you need another tree or that Christmas will be a failure if you don't handmade the chocolates or knit your own tinsel.

My DC, who tend to go on holiday over Christmas now, with our blessing, have fond memories of the time we had pizzas, and one once requested pasta "with sauce from a jar" as that was deemed fancier than my homemade sauce.