Wednesday, November 16, 2016

By Barbara Pronin Some people start buying Christmas presents in July. Others think those people are nuts. But regardless of when you start planning, preparing for the holidays can be stressful.

Lifestyle blogger Deanna Piercy, whose LifeWithDee.com website reflects her views on leading a calm and more rewarding life, keeps a three-ring binder with pages she intends to update with Christmas card and holiday to-do lists as well as gift ideas that occur to her throughout the year.

But because she is no better organized than most, she relies on several online planners – two that are free and one that costs $5 – that help her get a healthy head-start on holiday planning, gift-buying and entertainment:

The FlyLady Holiday Control Journal – This conversational guide to cruising through the holidays begins with ‘crisis cleaning’ advice for those who suffer from CHAOS (Can’t Have Anyone Over Syndrome.) The site offers tips on multi-tasking that works – or doesn’t – as well as how to create and manage family traditions, and the most efficient morning and bedtime routines to keep your household humming. The journal can be accessed free of charge at Flylady.net.

The Holiday Grand Plan – A companion site to ‘The Cleaning Grand Plan,” this holiday version combines downloadable holiday prep tips based on week-by-week, one-room-at-a-time strategies.  Available free at HolidayGrandPlan.com, it also offers pre-holiday know-how on gift ideas, holiday décor, and no-fuss holiday meals.

The Brocante Home Christmas Planner – Offering this 30-page holiday planner as well as an ongoing newsletter for an investment of just five bucks, the Brocante Home guide offers a collection of charts, forms and lists designed to help keep you on top of everything from sending annual holiday greetings to hosting a no-stress buffet. Available at BrocanteHome.net, the countdown planner is easy to use and includes easy approaches to holiday chores from budgeting to order-tracking to thank-you’s.

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