Anyone else started a Christmas 2019 list yet?

[vodkaanddietcokeplease]

I seem to do this every year

Started my list for next year already - some 'big' gift ideas related to gifts I've given this year/food shopping list with anything I'd forgotten added on and anything I didn't bother with taken off. List of people who's cards I need to buy etc

It feels nice to do it while it's all fresh in my mind!

No list...as I like to see what comes out in the middle of the year

But I’ve bought all the wrapping paper I need, 75p down from £3 AND crackers too. £1 down from £6

Something else I've added to my list - sort through all of DC clothes/nightwear/shoes in December.

We sorted all the toys but they were bought so many new clothes and shoes and I had zero room! Hadn't realised how much was due to be replaced either so this year I'll just assume they'll be given more and if not I'll shop for whatever they need come January

@vodkaanddietcokeplease that's a great idea. I'll have to add that to my list.

I have kept a Christmas spreadsheet since 2008. There are key gifts that I know have gone down well and that will be welcome as repeat gifts and 8 have copied them over to next Christmass tab to remind me.

Mostly I give tickets for a family panto trip. We are going next week to that. Then on about may I will ask if people want to do that next year. If yes then that's 6 me in gifts sorted..

I've already picked up manicure sets and make up brushes and hand creams etc for the dds stockings

Good tip about the clothes. I usually include sizes and suggestions for anyone that asks, but it’s a very good time to do a proper sort out.

Place marking for tips!

I start a new Christmas notebook every year in about mid September which I fill with lists, ideas, planners etc. On twelfth night after the decorations come down I sit with a Bailey's and a hunk of Christmas cake and write my final entries for the year in it - things/outings/meals etc we enjoyed and things which perhaps weren't so successful. Also any other tips/notes for future me. The notebook then goes away until September when I start my new one, and I pull it out for reference. I have Christmas notebooks going back over a decade to when DD was little, and over Christmas every year I read through them all both for tips and nostalgia - it's lovely to see what we were doing in 2006 when I was still buying toys and we were going to the panto!

Feeling a bit griefy that it's only a few days until it's time to put it away for the year though...

@ShutUpMorrissey that's a lovely idea. I always recycle my pages when I'm done transferring to a new list, your way would have been much nicer

I love that idea @shutupmorrissey I may have to pinch that.

On my list for this year:

Buy NYE Firework tickets for DH and I ( the DC won;t want to go)

Might try the Kew Gardens Lighted Walk again - we went the first year but the photos from recent years looked really nice .

My DC are late teens now so don't want to do Christmassy things with us but DH,DD and I went to see The Play That Goes Wrong in late Nov for a pre-Christmas night out ( it's really funny)

I want to shake it up a bit this year, but I'm not sure how yet.

We're probably going to Aviemore just before Christmas and, if we do, we'll do the Santa train there instead of the Lakes.

I'm also wanting to do food differently too. I'm not sure how, but I'm sick of putting hours into making stuff that barely anyone eats, so that needs to change, even though I'll be sad not to make stuff, but what's the point if it's not appreciated?

I'll be thinking more about this as we head further into the year!

Some great ideas of things to do there all!

@NoWordForFluffy we simplified things massively this year and enjoyed it just as much, if not more! For the first time it was just me, DH and the 2 DCs, and DH and I agreed that we didn't want to spend all day in the kitchen. We got a takeaway on Christmas Eve so that was nice and easy put a beef joint in the slow cooker for Christmas dinner on CE night, then roasted potatoes/parsnips in one tray and stuffing balls/pigs in blankets in another. Couple of pans of veg on the go on the hob and we were done.
I appreciate it's not as easy if you're catering for a lot of people but I just feel like previously we've gone way overboard with choice and quantity. We had very little leftovers this year but think we appreciated it more because of that.

We've done a buffet on CD for the last few years, and the roast on BD instead. And Ive really gone to town on it. I think I'll simplify it, as you did, and just offer less choice / quantity in general!

I also think I'll do the dinner on CD again too. We eat in the early evening anyway, as if it's simplified it won't take me away from the kids too much anyway.

I think I'll follow your lead @vodkaanddietcokeplease!

I've started my £2 coin saving tin again in a saving tin that you need a can opener to open. I usually save between £200 - £400 in £2 coins in a year. This year I saved £250 which paid for trips out, meals and panto tickets.

@Storybarn that's a great idea! I'm planning on saving £20/week between now and November, hoping that will cover everything - gifts/cards/food/trips out 🤞🏻

The thing is I don't miss the money as it's become such an ingrained habit. As soon as I get a £2 coin it goes immediately in the tin. It's the cost of a takeaway coffee which I've cut down on.

It helps that I pay for everything in cash and leave my card at home when I go out. I take my money out for the week and once it's spent that's it unless there's a big bill to pay.

I save £2 coins too @Storybarn but it took me 2 years to get to £400 so I wait until my jar is full before cashing it in.

I also save 1p, 2p and 5p coins in a tub and "encourage" the rest of the family to do the same. The £40+ pounds this year paid for a takeaway.

I wasn't going to start thinking about Christmas 2019 until much nearer the time, and I had been ignoring this thread and the temptation that it presented! But here I am

Decorations are all packed away here, and the house has had a decent clean and tidy as part of that. I've been organised with now I've put things away in labelled boxes, and made sure that only things that are clean and unbroken are packed away. A couple of bulbs have blown on fairy lights and I'm planning to fix those before they go back in the loft.

I discovered too late that I had already bought Christmas cards in the January 2018 sales. Ooops. I might make a list of what we do and don't have and keep it somewhere safe so that I don't do the same again. I've also got a list of things that we forgot to do this year or just never got around to doing, and some surprise 'hits' on the spur of the moment.

I like the ideas on here for more regular saving and / or early buying for 2019. Spending this year wasn't hideous, but spreading it out over a few weeks would be sensible. I plan to add non-perishable items to shopping lists throughout November, and try to get ahead so that there is more time to relax in the week before the big day.

A tub of coins for a family treat is a nice idea. I've done the same with weight loss in the past - chucked the cash equivalent of a latte / hot choc / cake out that I've resisted into a pot and spent the contents on a treat for myself when I've hit a target.

I came across this website just before Christmas -'Rudolph Days' on the 25th of each month which are used to sort out the household for Christmas. It looks just what I need to indulge myself with further festive feelings at the moment, but I might feel something of an obsessive by June! christmas.organizedhome.com/ and christmas.organizedhome.com/rudolph-club Hanging around on the Mumsnet Christmas board might be safer

Ohh thanks for the link @pleasenot going to have a good look at that now.

I start in January every year, with a list. So I can see what I gave last year. Plus have leftover presents from this year (candles, tree ornaments). I also have a birthday list for the entire year. The lists help me not duplicate gifts from year to year.

We've done a £2 tin for a good few years , I started doing 1p/2p/5p/10p as well (I save the 20p/50p for car parks and £1 to spend )

Last year it was around £270 (between 4 ) so worth doing .

I save 1p, 2p, 5p's as well! Usually have about £20 which we use for drinks at Panto and a taxi home. I've added 10p's this year so will see what that adds up to & use it towards something else (probably late night shopping McDonald's for tea - we don't actually do much shopping, more wander to see the lights in the dark & a nip in Primark/poundshop for a small something each).

My potential gift list is looking quite promising - dd2 has started on the little showergel/sponge gift set her uncle gave her for Christmas & mentioned that it's the only one she got, so I will get her one next Christmas.

@pleasenotmondayagain I like the idea of Rudolph days! Off to have a look at that now

@lucysmam I get my supermarket stamps on the 25th of each month as a nod to Rudolph days.

I need to roll-over my spreadsheet as well, while I remember that there are plenty of presents in my storage space to pass on.

I like to do Rudolph Days as well.

And I have noticed the years I collect the supermarket stamps, I am a little more organized, and more likely to also fill a trolley for the local Lion's Club food drive.

This year though, no big craft projects as that nearly killed me last year (2018). And I have enough wrapping paper, and almost enough cards, to get me through Christmas '19.

@BiddyPop what do you do on Rudolph days? I very much like the idea of something each month!