Are you getting ready for next year??

I am!! I have to. If I waited until fall to start I'd spend WAAAAAYYYY to much and that makes my wallet hurt! I had seen something on a web site earlier in the year to help keep me going through out the year, but then I couldn't remember where I found it. Soooo, I decided to take what I could remember and run with it. This is what I came up with....


This is the front cover of my CHRISTmas notebook. I used a spiral bound note card book. Having started to use it I wish I had used a note card binder instead so I would have a little more flexability.



This page starts my first section.



Our Traditions.....



The next divider looks like this, can you guess what the section is??


Did you guess?? I know you did! It's "people to buy for". I only included a sample of the pages to give you an idea. The first page is a complete list of peeps. Then a couple of pages that look something like this. DH, the kids and Mom each get their own page. The kids pages have a list of those that they get gifts for as well, to help keep track.


Then we come to the next divider, "stuffer stuff"....
Stuffers are my nemasis. First, because they get expensive quickly, and secondly, I usually buy enough to fill 6 of them.



I have a "fabalus" arrangement with my BF where I get her stuff and she gets mine, and then we ship them to each other. I LOVE this!! Each stocking gets it's own page....



The next divider starts my CHRISTmas timeline...



My countdown starts in November...


and goes through the day AFTER CHRISTmas....



The next section is more or less "miscellaneous"...




I've included things not to forget (Santa brings a new tooth brush in our stockings every year). As you can see, I have a line for each type of battery. I just write the number of batteries for each item next to the appropriate type and mark it out when I buy them.


It seems every year I end up with a couple of things I changed my mind about later....


I'm going to add another page for gift ideas. That way if I see something for someone, but have to wait to get it, I can reference back later. It will have the item, price, where I saw it and who I think would enjoy it. I can also take the time to find it elsewhere for less that way! Win, win!

I love this idea and have already implemented it. It looks more daunting a task than it is. Start to finish it only took me about 30 minutes. Wrapping the pages isn't a must, but it makes for great dividers and helps keep the CHRISTmas spirit going. It's the perfect size to fit in my purse so I can keep it with me. I'll never have to try to remember what I've picked up where for whom again!! "Fabalus!!"

Me