How to Organize Christmas Gifts Easily

Organizing Christmas (Holiday) Gifts doesn't just mean the actual gifts.  It also means creating a process to put in place for the planning, buying, and storing of these gifts. A few times, I forgot to wrap a gift because it wasn't with the other presents, and I made a mad 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 decided to create this gift list.  It served me well for at least 20 years, and I hope it helps you, too. Here's how I used this gift list.

Jump to:

• How I Organized My Christmas Gift List on a Spreadsheet
• Where Should I hide presents in my home?
• Holiday Season Planner - Save Money, Time, Free Checklist Printables

First, let's start with the planning. Do you have a Christmas gift list? It helps manage your spending and keep your focus on what you need to buy. There are many ways to organize a Christmas gift 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; this includes gifts and stocking stuffers.

I added a column called "Completed," which I mark the date or a checkmark on 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.

This can also be used for workplace parties. I like to include the date of the party to remind myself of 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 would manage the 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...).

The 5th and 6th sections were used for holiday parties that I always have.

I liked to have Christmas Eve and Christmas Day parties. There were usually several people attending, and I loved giving holiday favors to them.

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 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 for the teenagers in my life.  They had many to choose from, and I didn't have to spend actual cash for them. I would use my points.  I would indicate how many points I would need for each person and write what gift card 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.

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 that I have, I get a large 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 and 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 the same place helped me remember what I had purchased.

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.

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