How to Organize Christmas Gifts Easily

Organizing Christmas (Holiday) Gifts doesn't just mean the actual gifts. It also means creating a process for planning, buying, and storing these gifts. A few times, I forgot to wrap a gift (affiliate) because it wasn't with the other presents, and I had to rush to find and wrap the missing presents. How stressful, right? Keeping gifts organized has helped me reduce the stress of the "where did I place that thing for (recipient name)" syndrome.

Since I love giving gifts but don't want to spend a lot of money, I created this gift (affiliate) list. It served me well for at least 20 years, and I hope it helps you, too. Here's how I used this gift (affiliate) list. It's a good time to get your planning and budgeting in order.

Estimated reading time: 7 minutes

Jump to:

• Key Takeaways
• How I Organized My Christmas Gift List on a Spreadsheet
• Where Should I hide presents in my home?
• FAQs to organize christmas gifts easily
• Holiday Season Planner - Save Money, Time, Free Checklist Printables

First, let's start with the planning. Do you have a Christmas gift (affiliate) list? It helps you manage your spending and stay focused on what you need to buy. There are many ways to organize a Christmas gift (affiliate) list. This is how I organized mine.

How I Organized My Christmas Gift List on a Spreadsheet

The first section is for my immediate family, including gifts and stocking stuffers.

I added a column called "Completed," which I mark with the date or a checkmark when I purchase the item. In the next column, I have the budget I want to spend on that person.  This helps me determine how much Christmas shopping will be this year.

The second section is for any family gatherings I may have that year.

You can also use this for workplace parties. I like to include the party date to remind myself when I need the gifts. In this section, I also include the budgeted amount.

In sections 3 and 4, when my kids were younger, I managed gifts for the teachers and instructors/coaches.

For example, the week of Dec. 19th was the week before the holidays, usually when they would see their music/dance instructors for the last time before winter break. The kids usually saw (affiliate) their teachers the following week, so we created a separate section for them. I also added gifts I wanted to give to service people, like postal workers, trash pickup persons, hairdressers, and anyone else (clients, employers, etc...).

I used the 5th and 6th sections for holiday parties I always have.

I liked to have Christmas Eve and Christmas Day parties. Usually, several people attended, and I loved giving them holiday favors.

The 7th section was for my New Year's Eve party.  

I usually celebrated this with friends that I didn't have a chance to see during Christmas. Adding them to this section reminded me to get them a small gift.

Christmas Birthday section.

And, finally, if you are like me and have several family and friends born around Christmas, you will like the last section. This section helped remind me to buy birthday gifts for family and friends.

The points column is for reward gift cards.

If you were wondering what the "points" column meant, well, I would use this section for the "Free" gifts I would get, like gift cards (affiliate) and other items from credit card companies like American Express.  Since I can pick up $25.00 cards for only 2500 points, I would get these gift cards (affiliate) for the teenagers in my life.  They had many to choose from, and I didn't have to spend cash. I would use my points.  I would note how many points I needed for each person and write which gift card (affiliate) I would give them in the gift-given column.

Well, that's it.  I hope this gives you ideas on managing your Christmas gift list. Feel free to change it up and make your version. Don't worry about the date, you can date it or not, I just wanted you to see what I have been using for years.

Where Should I hide presents in my home?

After I wrote the Christmas Gift list, I started shopping. I like to hide the items in a closet or attic area, keeping them covered in plastic containers (affiliate) so they don't get damaged or seen by the recipient.

If items were stored in boxes (affiliate), I would write the recipient's initials in small letters on the top of the box to remember who the gift was for when I was ready to wrap the present.

For holiday gatherings, I get a large (affiliate) box and label (affiliate) it with the party name and date. Then, place all the gifts for the attendees in that box. I can easily grab the box before the party, wrap everything in the box, and I am ready to go.

Hopefully, my kids aren't reading this right now. Keeping all the presents in one place helped me remember what I bought.

FAQs to organize christmas gifts easily

Well, that's it for now.  I hope this helps you, too. How do you manage your Christmas list? Please leave a comment below. I would love to hear from you. Get a free copy of my extensive holiday season planner to help you save money and time, and get free checklists (affiliate), including this one without the date! =)

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