5 easy steps to Organize Gift Giving throughout the Year
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Do you lose purchased gifts or overspend when it comes to gift for your friends and family? Let’s stop that. It can be very easy to organize gift giving throughout the year. No more putting gifts in a secret hiding spot only to forget where that spot is (been there, done that). No more unknowingly overspending on gifts or buying gift. Let’s chat a bit about how you can get those gifts organized once and for all!
1. Plan for People
Are there certain occasions throughout the year that you know, for sure, that you’ll be giving a gift? Write them down and plan ahead to help organize gift giving. Birthdays and anniversaries are always on the same date, so they should be easy to figure out. Check a calendar for holidays and check with friends and family for any other special occasions like graduations, religious events, milestones and such. Then, write them down, too. When you have a game plan set of which people and which occasions you’ll be purchasing a gift for, it’ll be easier to plan ahead and purchase gifts when you see they’re available with a savings.
In addition to typical friends and family events, if you have kids, they may be attending birthday parties throughout the year. While this isn’t something you can always plan ahead for, I totally recommend writing down parties your kids attend this year so that you can begin to organize gift giving for next year. Look at you being on top of it!
2. Plan a Budget
It can be VERY easy to go over budget when it comes to gift giving. Believe me! Organize gift giving ahead of time by planning a budget for each person or occasion. When you have a number in mind, it should be easier to stick to, and plan ahead, for that budget. Write down those budgets and do your best to adhere by them. You may have to allow for some wiggle room, of course, but it’ll be helpful to have this as a guide.
3. Plan for Storage
Oh, the good ol’ “I put it in a safe place.” You guys. How many times have you put something in a so-called “safe place” only to, months later, have NO idea where that safe place was. I am so very guilty of doing this. Let’s stop this, m’kay?
Look around your house and see where gifts requiring secrecy (usually gifts for your immediate family) could be stored. Maybe it’s a closet in the basement, a corner of the attic, the cabinet over the microwave that NO ONE goes in (that’s one of my hiding places..shhhh). If you want to get really creative, you might consider asking a trusted family member or friend to store some gifts in their space.
Wherever you decide, don’t forget it!
4. Plan for Shopping
Where are you going to go shopping? Do you prefer to shop in-person or online? How will you get the most bang for your buck?
While it would be lovely to be able to get ALL shopping done while Black Friday deals are happening, that’s not always feasible. I prefer to shop in-person because the whole experience just makes me happy, but, let’s be real, there isn’t enough time in the world to just visit each and every store. And, do you really want to spend all day in stores when you could be spending the day at home making memories with your family?
While you’re shopping, another way to organize gift giving is to make sure to keep an eye out for general gifts to have on hand. If you see a fabulous deal on a gift your child would love, pick up a few to have on hand for friend birthday parties. See incredible savings on candles or home goods? You may consider grabbing a few so you always have a host gift on hand.
5. Plan to Stay Organized
Throughout this article, I’ve mentioned a few tasks that are fairly easy to do, but, really…what are you going to use to write your gift giving game plan on? A notebook? Could work, but I tend to lose them. A post-it note? Nope…that’ll lose it’s stickiness. You guys (surprise, surprise), I have a solution!
Enter the “Gift Giving at a Glance” printable! If you want to start to organize gift giving in your life, you can grab your own copy here!
You got this!
It may seem overwhelming to get everything organized, but, trust me, you’re really going to like being able organize gift giving throughout the year! No more last minute trips to the stores, or paying extra for expedited shipping. You’ll be ready for anything and will save so much time!
What are you going to do with all that free time?! Maybe you could watch a movie or two with the family? We LOVE watching the Marvel Avengers movies in chronological order. Start to finish, if you watch all of them, you should have a few months worth of movie nights all planned out for family movie night!
