The first day of summer, the end of year is looming, the kids are tired yet excited, BBQs and parties are warming up, the shops are crazy - all the signs that Christmas is almost here again.

How close are you to be ready for Christmas? The ideal is to be ready by the end of November (except for food things) unless you like the hustle and bustle of shops in December - but how many of us meet that ideal every year?

Here are some tips and links to help you finish preparing in the next 24 days!

• shop online as much as possible - no parking, no crowds, choose your own hours, everything is delivered
• plan what you need as much as possible before starting to shop
• buy as many things as possible in one shop to save travelling from one place to another (And this will save delivery fees when you shop online)
• order as much in advance as possible - book a turkey, pre-order some flowers, request a personalised Santa letter,
• next time the kids want to do something crafty, give them big sheets of paper to make wrapping paper or some cardboard to make cards out of - keeps them amused and saves you buying Christmas goodies
• entertain the kids with Christmas themed games and activities
• get gift wrapping done in store wherever possible -0 this is a great time saver and also makes it harder for anyone to ‘accidently’ see what is in the present pile

Visit our Christmas page for more ideas and links, and Merry Christmas!

Filed under: Special Dates