Living

Organize these high impact areas of your home and set yourself up for a stress-free holiday season.

The Holidays are already in the air, and we are feeling those busy vibrations already. While we probably can’t help with the stress from your in-laws, we can help you organize and prepare your home to have a stress-free holiday season.

There are individual rooms in your home that get a lot of action during the holiday. Here are our best tips for getting these areas decluttered, stocked, and organized.

1. The Kitchen

Possibly the most popular room in the house at any time of the year, the holidays only emphasize your kitchen’s title as the queen room of the home. Get your shining star ready for holiday parties, overnight guests, and impromptu pop-ins.

 

 

1. Declutter

You know the deal here. Go through your fridge, pantry, and drawers and get rid of expired food, and service ware that is no longer needed or has seen better days, and clear out any items that do not belong in the kitchen.

2. Organize

Once you have cleared out what needs to go, go ahead and put everything back in an organized way. Think of what you will use most in the upcoming months for cooking and entertaining. Place these items in easy reach.

3. Re-stock

Stock any pantry items and freezer items that will let you pull together a delightful menu on short notice. Stock your bar and mixers. Consider creating a baking station for all of those holiday cookies. For guests, you can create a coffee station that makes it easy for them to make themselves at home and find what they need.

2. The Guest Room

Many of us will be expecting out-of-town guests during the holiday season. Guest rooms are a great place to organize early.

You can quickly fix it and forget it in this space until your guests are about to arrive. Here are a few things you can do to prepare for your guests and make them feel special.

 

 

1. Start by decluttering

As with any other space, you need to clear the clutter before you can start to make it cozy. Sometimes our guest rooms have a way of collecting items that we can’t find a home for in other rooms of the house. Now is a great time to see if those items should be stored, placed in another room, or donated.

2. Consider who is staying

Depending on the age and personality of your guests, you can add in little things to make them feel at home.

3. Make it festive

Add some holiday touches to your guest room. Your guests may have traveled a far way from home and having some holiday cheer where they are sleeping will be a welcome addition to their holiday travel experience.

4. Pay attention to the details

From big to small details, your guests will notice if you have taken extra care with your space. Bedding, the temperature of the room, cozy blankets, access to things guests need, good lighting, all of these things come together to create a great guest experience.

5. Share your house information

We want our house guests to feel as comfortable as possible and contribute to them having a stress-free holiday season. Consider getting together any important house information, such as your wi-fi password, your house alarm, landline number, and address. Print all o the info out and place it in a frame on the dresser, nightstand, or desk in your guest room.

3. Bathrooms

Of course, you will be cleaning your bathroom more than once before the holiday season starts, but giving each of your bathrooms a deep clean, declutter, and stock up before the holidays arrive will let you do quick once-overs rather than massive cleaning projects.

 

 

1. Declutter

Now is an excellent time to get rid of any almost empty bottles of shampoo and conditioner and any other toiletry items you may have stashed underneath your sink or in your linen closet.

2. Restock

Sure, your guests probably brought tiny travel bottles of toiletries with them. But wouldn’t it be nice to stock up on some full-size products just for them. They are sure to feel the love on this one.

3. Check your towels

Towels are an everyday item, and sometimes we don’t see how shabby they have gotten. Take a look through your linen closet with guest’s eyes and get rid of any towels or washcloths that have seen better days. This is an excellent time to take a look at your sheets while you are in there as well.

4. Outdoor Spaces And Entryways

Sometimes it’s easy to forget the outside of our homes when the weather turns cold. Before the guests start arriving and before you put up any holiday decorations, give your outdoor spaces and entryways a once over.

 

 

1. Remove any out of season furniture from your outdoor spaces. Give everything a good sweep. Swap out any plants or greenery for seasonally appropriate versions.

2. Clear clutter from your entryway. Create a space for cold-weather gear like coats, hats, gloves, and boots.

Conclusion

Once you have gone in and organized these high-use holiday spaces in your home, you will be ready to add festive touches and welcome guests without running around like crazy to make your house the way you want your guests to enjoy it. The best quality of any host is to be relaxed and having a good time.

Think how much easier that will be to achieve with so many of these holiday organizing and cleaning projects out of the way.

Use These Strategies To Financially Prepare For The Holidays And Avoid Holiday Overwhelm.

The holidays really have a way of sneaking up on us, especially when it comes to spending. One expenditure snowballs into the next and the next thing you know you are reaching for that credit card you just paid off a few months ago. These systems and tweaks will help you financially prepare for the holidays and adjust your budget so that you don’t get walloped this season.

The 4 Areas To Prepare And Budget For The Holidays:

1. Budget for the extras

Little things add up. Gas and travel, quick lunches out while shopping, cocktails with co-workers to celebrate before a holiday break. Soon enough, you will find yourself dipping into your regular budget or your holiday gift money to cover these expenses.

Set yourself a budget for these things and try to stick to it.

 

 

2. Budget for the big purchases

The bigger the kids get the more expensive their toys are. If your kids have asked for a larger ticket item this year and you have decided to buy it for them, make sure to start putting something aside for it as soon as you can.

Having even half of the funds for bigger purchases saved will ease the stress when it comes time to pull out your wallet.

 

 

3. Budget for any time off of work

If you have paid holiday vacation, this might not be an issue for you. However, if you work for yourself, or you are taking extra days off outside of your paid time, you’ll want to adjust your budget accordingly.

 

 

4. Budget for entertaining

The season of entertaining brings with it its own costs. Stocking your bar, cooking full meals, whipping up spontaneous cheese boards-all of this can get expensive. Set aside a budget for entertaining in your holiday budget so having guests doesn’t feel stressful.

 

 

Plan Ahead

Look for deals on travel

As far in advance as makes sense, start looking for hotel and transportation deals if you will be traveling during the holiday season.

If you are flying, consider saving your miles for this time of the year.

Booking early may also come with some rewards depending on what airline you use. Try sites like booking.com and Travelocity to see if you can get a good combo travel and lodging combination.

My favorite app for monitoring prices for air tickets is Hopper.

Enter the origin, destination and travel dates and set up the “watch” function to be alerted of promotions and best prices.

Start saving early

Perhaps the most important way you can financially prepare for the holidays is to begin putting a little aside each month as soon after the last season ends.

Remember those Christmas clubs your parents would have at the bank. They are not such a bad idea. Check with your bank to see what time of short-term goal savings programs they offer and take advantage of one. You may be able to set your holiday savings to automatically deduct from your regular checking or savings.

The earlier you start saving, the more you will have when the holidays roll around.

Conclusion

The holidays are often a time where we see more money going out of our budgets than usual and less money coming in. In order to combat this, we can prepare financially for the holidays with these tips.

When we head into the holidays with a realistic budget we can save ourselves the pre and post-holiday stress and anxiety that comes when we overspend.

Prepare your home for the holidays with these decluttering, organizing, and early prep tips.

As the holidays draw near, so do all of the “things” that come with them. From decorations to gifts, the holidays bring some major “stuff” into our homes. To prepare your home for the holidays, the best way to keep the clutter out of your home during the season is to declutter, purge, and organize before it arrives.

Here are our best tips on how to prepare your home for the holidays so you can avoid clutter and overwhelm in your space.

1. Start By Letting Go

When it comes to preparing your home for the holidays, the first thing you absolutely must do is purge and declutter. Be relentless when it comes to decluttering!

Move through your home and declutter each room and space at a time. Once you have purged what doesn’t serve you anymore, you can begin organizing and designating spots for any gifts that will come in.

 

 

2. Deep Clean Early

No one wants to deep clean those forgotten spaces that are in our homes in the middle of the holiday rush when guests are coming the next day.

Hit those forgotten spots of your home with a good, deep clean well before the holidays arrive. This way, you can simply do a quick freshen as the holidays near. Imagine the time and energy you will save!

 

 

3. Start Preparing Your Kitchen Now

One of the rooms that get the most action in our homes around the holidays is the kitchen. Start preparing your kitchen before the parties and house guests arrive. You’ll want to go through and lean out and restock your pantry, check on your service ware, and stock the bar.

It’s also a great idea to stock your fridge and pantry with some self-serve snacks and treats that guests can easily get for themselves. Keep some frozen prepared appetizers and pre-made puff pastries in your freezer for last minute, on the fly desserts.

 

 

4. Consider Guest Spaces

If you are lucky enough to have a dedicated room or rooms for guests, prepare those well ahead of time.

If you have a dual space, say an office that doubles as a guest space, think of how you can change this over temporarily to focus more on serving guests for the holiday season.

If you live in a small apartment or home with no extra rooms, think of how you will put any guests up in your home (pull out sofas, etc) and make sure you have plenty of blankets and linens ready. If your space is simply too small to accommodate guests, think about nearby hotels or friends or family that may be able to offer up a room or host your guests.

 

 

5. Set The Mood

Bringing the holiday spirit into your home doesn’t mean you need a million decorations in every room. What really sets a holiday festive mood can be simple and uncluttered.

Prepare your home for the holidays with intentionally and thoughtfully placed candles, scents, cozy blankets, and pillows, warm fires, good music, a festive cocktail, and tasty snacks. Stock up on these items and have them at the ready for any impromptu guests or holiday parties.

 

 

Conclusion

Getting your home ready for the holidays doesn’t have to be overwhelming. If you get a head start, declutter and organize, make room for the gifts, deep clean early, prepare guests spaces, and set the mood throughout your home you will have a jump start.

What is your favorite part of getting ready for the holidays? Let’s share in the comments!

Mentally Prepare For The Holiday Season With These Mindset Tips And Strategies.

Back to school season is well underway and we are starting to think about the Fall and Winter Holidays. Now is the perfect time to mentally prepare for the holiday season.

Whether we are excited for (or haunted by!) retail stores being three months early for everything, we may be starting to plan, and have some anxiety around, the approaching holiday season.

This week continues our month-long delve into avoiding overwhelm during seasonal transitions and holidays in your home, your work, and personal life.

Today we are going to talk about preventing holiday overwhelm in our own lives by preparing our mindset and our routines for these busy times.

Get into a stress-free and easy mindset this holiday season with these tips.

1. Don’t Create Unrealistic Expectations For The Holiday Season

This is probably one of the most significant sources of holiday stress.

As the holidays get closer, we start having all these fantastic ideas, sometimes creating completely unrealistic expectations of ourselves, our budget, and our time.

Take the time to check in on your holiday goals and see what’s realistic for your time and budget and then plan from there. You will end up closer to your vision if you start from a place of what’s possible.

 

 

2. Don’t Compare

It is so true that comparison is the thief of joy.

As tempting as it is, don’t compare or set standards for your holidays based on what someone else is doing. Do what the right fit for you and your family is, and you will have a much more relaxed holiday for it.

 

 

3. Set a Realistic Budget And Stick To It

One of the most significant sources of stress during and after the holidays is because we overspend. Set a budget for yourself and your holiday spending well before the holidays arrive. Include travel and hosting costs along with your gift spending.

Consider starting a dedicated savings account just for holiday spending. Being able to see what you have and where it is going will help you curb financial overwhelm.

Start an account in the Spring, and you will have a nice chunk of money by the time the holidays roll around.

 

 

4. Stick To A Routine

Sticking to a routine is one of the best ways to protect ourselves against stress and overwhelm during the holidays.

Creating a plan that lets you know what is coming up each day is the best way to defeat any chaos that may arise during your day.

When something unexpected happens, remember that you can take care of it and take comfort that your routine will be waiting for you afterward.

 

 

5. Check-In With Yourself

Throughout the holiday season, take a few moments each day and at the start of each new week to check in with yourself. Are you stressed? Are you overwhelmed? If the answer is yes, ask yourself why.

What can be adjusted or removed from your schedule or a to-do list that can relieve this? Can any tasks be delegated?

Adjust your routine and habits accordingly until you find your sweet spot.

Taking note of how you feel regularly can save you from a mega meltdown that makes it hard to climb out from under.

 

 

Conclusion

The holidays can be stressful for many reasons, including financial stress, unrealistic expectations, and packed calendars.

Implementing these tips on how to prepare your mindset for the holidays now will help you to avoid overwhelm and enjoy yourself and your friends and family this holiday season.