What things do you do for Christmas that make it less stressful?

[AxolotlEars]

Every month some money goes into a bank account just for Christmas. Roughly, I use it throughout the first half of the year to buy gifts for friends and family. The second half of the year I use it for my kids and husband.

This year, for the first time, I cooked everything that went in the oven, in foil trays.

What are your tried and tested tips?
Did you do anything new, this year, that you'll repeat next year?

DD birthday is a few days before so I start buying for her in August. Rest of the family I cash stuff for so save up little bits all year. A lot of things I buy ready made, veg + roasts are all prepped the night before and onion gravy made to be reheated.

Order gift bags in a range of sizes and a huge pack of tissue, in bulk, from a packaging company on eBay.

Bags or tissue are colour coded for each person, so no labels.
Much easier to wrap gifts in tissue, no tape needed and set them in the middle of tissue, fluffed over the top of the bag.

In fact, the same bags get used each year at ours, often taken home by others and resurface a year later!

Can you share link if where you get these? Paper or fabric?

I buy non-perishables several weeks ahead of time to avoid the stress of "the big food shop". Start present buying in Sept, and reduced the number of cards I send.

Brilliant suggestions everyone 🙂

Presents only for kids.

Bought the entire Christmas shop from cook. Which means everything is pre prepped and frozen. And you just pop in the oven.

Delicious, fresh, healthy zero stress.

I buy the cards etc straight after Christmas reduced and put them away. Then I do most of my shopping in oct (kids stuff and hide that and things like teacher presents and generic stuff so I only have to buy dh in dec)

I also prep veg the day before / peel potatoes and leave overnight in water and freeze carrot and parsnip mash etc

i pick up things like crackers or turkey tray week by week in the shops so it’s not all a big rush

Clear division of tasks so I do all the present buying and wrapping and DH does all the food shopping and Christmas dinner prep. We help a bit with each other’s tasks but clear responsibility for each area!
Also reducing present buying lists and unnecessary stuff such as Christmas Eve boxes has helped a lot.
I would add that I work Christmas usually so have to divide tasks otherwise it would be overwhelming!

Pre-prepared Christmas food is excellent nowadays so get as much as possible already done.
Stop buying for adults.
Have 2 of each stocking design. One hangs in anticipation of Santa, the other can be filled in secret and put out already done on Christmas Eve night. So much easier just switching them.
Don't feel pressured to do anything on Christmas day just because you always did it before.

1. Marry a man who cares way more about it all than I do and is happy to organise 90% of it

1. Have a baby 2 days before Christmas so putting my effort into her birthday day absolves me (in my mind) of guilt re 1.

1. Agree with adults on my side years ago we only do charity presents

1. Make sure I get plenty of time alone by doing things like going to Midnight Mass which nobody else wants to do

Not a big one but my older teens have become fussy about clothes. We went to the summer sale at Bicester Village, they chose a few things and had forgotten what they were by Christmas Day. Obviously only works if they've stopped growing.

Next year I think I'll pre-make the gravy and possibly the roast potatoes.

Find someone else to host. Dparents love hosting and providing Christmas dinner and I am happy to be fed so visit them. We take desert over and make teas etc, but dinner is the one thing we do not need to stress over.

Also, ask for lists and find out what people want for presents. The number of threads on here about people stressing over what to buy, or upset at being given something they don't like etc. honestly you can get rid of all of that by just asking! Get what people want (and maybe throw in a surprise "I saw this and thought of you" gift as an extra).

Let DH do the preparation and cooking. We are hosting today and as a result of SIL phoning on 7th October to ask what I was going to be serving and DH being off since Friday, I left it all to him this year. I don't think we have half enough veg and stuffing for 12 people, but you know what the takeaways are open and I am so relaxed I have been perfecting my Baileys mudslide cocktail recipe instead of stressing like I normally do.

I used this company because the bags are sturdy with rope handles.

( sorry for the long link, mumsnet link tool isn't working!)
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/352060781169?_skw=gift+bags+rope&itmmeta=01JG16GM854KZRVBJXW85VDTJC&hash=item51f8753271:g:IqUAAOSw3v5YswyP&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAA8HoV3kP08IDx%2BKZ9MfhVJKl5cDAeFlHbZ8DCpVAwu2Ruie7QvVU5zEpomyVWSxkVCVE3kie4ThzG2QZgpMzNEq3fPYRP3mXLydlTgjH%2FJSzKUpsCSx1uZONBxODM3vbQzGn%2FVQprp1w%2BXJo3WqiE76N5dVNcXl8xlcjVIf%2BB1ngQSRKZtw0s%2BPJeDigI18rr2hH7Xk%2FrfPZO0021hYmfYtWjlbWkxoo0ItucEy91v3QQRU7QVN2yCSyrM2HriPpP9HxbbLTF0u8nsAF5fqEXjG5PAC%2BfRgtTLmj3qygI4udt4Sdj%2BDBkj%2BzilbUxMbYEww%3D%3D%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR57EwqaAZQ
There are cheaper alternatives with paper handles from other companies.

We have these same bags which have gone backwards and forwards between family members for the last 10 years😆…i did replace again this year as they must have been shared beyond our family.

Write food menu and shopping list in November and split the shop up (shelf stable/frozen early, fresh closer to Christmas).
Prep and freeze stuffing, carrots and parsnips week before.
Write down everything you plan to and have bought as gifts, and minimise who you buy gifts for.
This year I spatchcocked the turkey, so the 3.5kg turkey cooked in 50 minutes - the whole dinner took me 1.5 hours from start to finish, way less time in the kitchen - much more enjoyable and the best turkey we’ve had!

I put away savings all year for Christmas and presents, and I keep a spreadsheet for what I buy to keep track of bargains I find early in the year that suit the recipient.

In previous years, I have always prepped everything on Christmas Eve - peeled potatoes and veg, made stuffing, prepped my herb butter for under the skin of the turkey, that kind of thing. This year, it was only 3 of us and I did it as I got things in the oven - but I only did 1 veg and SH was disappointed there was no cauliflower cheese...

Christmas Eve dinner is "platter" - open packets of cooked/cured meats, prawns, cheese, etc, decant onto plates and put in the middle of the table. No fuss but deliciousness.

In our house, Santa never wrapped anything - just left anything from him beside the stocking in the middle of the room. Anything from other people was wrapped and under the tree to open later. (We have a 19 year old now so no need to differentiate anymore).

Also, Santa always brought a book as part of the pile, and some fruit and sweets - which kept DD from starving while we organised breakfast.

The years that I do craft presents, (as I enjoy crafting and have a lot of presents to get), I batch it. So one year, everyone got cotton knitted facecloths but each had their own initial on them and a soap matching their personality. Another year was a variety of different scarves. Another year, as we were doing a Siblings stockings thing, I made 15 stockings (which were supposed to stay in DParent's house but there's only 1 left there now). And there have been a few years where I did batches of jam, mincemeat, limoncello and chocolates as part of hampers for a few people (not all at once).

Oh, and I used to write my cards in Sept/Oct while on flights for work (I have a fair bit of travel), to have them ready to post at the right time. But a combination of fewer trips and much smaller plane seats means I haven't done that the last couple of years.

@Resisterance The company linked also sell a range of tissue.

This packaging company is the cheapest I found in bulk. ( 50 large sheets of tissue for £6.00).
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/274428594583?_skw=white+tissue+paper&var=574558762829&itmmeta=01JG182YM6BQ8YBPQWWH53CK2W&hash=item3fe5380997:g:6DIAAOSwZAlkgeIA

In terms of food we buy a preprepared turkey & gammon joint every year, one that you just remove the packaging, cover with foil and put in the oven for a couple of hours. This year we had maple glazed gammon and a bacon wrapped turkey crown with sage and onion stuffing. Both cost £12. No faffing around.
We also buy frozen roast potatoes & parsnips in duck fat which go in the oven for 40 minutes, they're so fluffy and crispy.

We cook everything in foil trays, saves a lot of washing up

I try to buy gifts for next year in boxing day/New Year sales as well as randomly throughout the year and will just make a note of what I've purchased for who so when next Christmas comes around I usually only need to get a few little bits. Same with cards, wrapping paper, crackers & decorations, it's all being reduced so now is the best time to buy.

I like your style. 👍

Thank you!

I bought frozen prepared veg for Christmas dinner

Parsnips with honey for roasting
Sprouts with chestnuts, bacon etc for pan frying
Red cabbage with cranberries etc for braising
Cauliflower cheese for baking

My DC said it was the best Christmas dinner ever!

Save all my points/vouchers all year for Christmas.
Secret Santa for adults ... only 1 present to buy
Don't send Christmas cards
Allocate jobs on the day .. xx peels potatoes, y does carrots etc all to be done by a set time. I also give out jobs like setting and clearing table. Everyone does 1 thing at least

Not making it all about the presents.

DH and I don't by presents for each other. So no secret seething or disappointment.

We get presents for our adult DCs and enjoy buying them things which they want but lack the funds to justify buying for themselves.

Christmas dinner is a relaxed all day affair with the courses making the meals of the day. DH does all the cooking and is assisted as necessary.

Small traditions like all visiting adults having a Christmas sock.

One day we may be blessed with DGCs and at that point traditions will evolve.