Arm in Orange jumper with pen in hand

Prepare For Christmas: 13 Lists You Can’t Do Without For A Stress Free Holiday Season!

Overwhelmed by the thought of everything you need to do for Christmas? This is the ultimate guide to the lists youโ€™ll want to make to prepare for Christmas more easily.

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13 Lists you MUST have to prepare for Christmas

Itโ€™s always good to feel organised when preparing for anything โ€“ and Christmas is no different.

Related: When Should You Start Planning for Christmas?

Here are the main Christmas lists you’ll want to be creating (in a notebook or Christmas planner, or on your computer etcโ€ฆ) so that youโ€™ll feel like everythingโ€™s under control in the run up to the festivities.

A list can help you see exactly what needs to be done at a glance – and is one of the best (and cheapest) tools to get yourself organised over the holiday season and make that Christmas preparation stress free.

the Lists That Will Make Christmas Preparations Easier This Year

#1 – Christmas Card List

Knowing who youโ€™re sending a card to will help you to make sure that no-one is missed over the Christmas period.

I like to write a separate list than just using my address book, because there will be a few things to think about (and I like to make sure theyโ€™re in separate card lists as a result).

Cards that will be hand delivered, cards that will be posted, cards that are posted abroad, and lastly, cards that are posted along with presents.

Keeping these separate means that I donโ€™t waste postage costs, and I can tackle the right lists at the right time (posting will usually be needed earlier than hand delivery, for example).

Related: Christmas Card Tips To Get Organised This Year

#2 – Christmas Gift List

One of the most important lists!

Having a list not only of who you are buying for, but also the budget for each person, and ideas of what to get (and what youโ€™ve previously got them) will keep things much more organised and easy to see where youโ€™re at โ€“ however soon you start your Christmas shopping.

It can also help you work out where and when to shop – as some items would be better bought in sales like the January Sales, or Black Friday / Cyber Monday.

#3 – Christmas Wish List(s)

Whether you are just writing a wish list for yourself, or youโ€™re getting your loved ones to write them, they’re definitely worth having.

If you have kids, you will no doubt be asked by friends and relatives what theyโ€™d like โ€“ so having some ideas to hand makes it quicker to organise ideas.

Pinterest is a great tool for this – and you can share the link with others easily.

Christmas Quote

#4 – Christmas Meals List

Listing what meals youโ€™re going to have to cater for, how many people, what food is required etcโ€ฆ will be crucial to writing your food shopping list when the time comes aroundโ€ฆ

And don’t forget – it’s not just the important meals like Christmas Dinner, Christmas Morning, Christmas Eve and Boxing Day – but also all the other meals that need catering for.

#5 – Recipe List

I love having a list of my favourite recipes for Christmas โ€“ things like stuffing, turkey cooking, Yorkshire puddings, Christmas cake etcโ€ฆ. โ€“ and this list could also become a very special recipe book that you can pass down to your kids in years to come.

#6 – Christmas Food Shopping List

This will come about from your Meals list (see above).

Making a list of what you need to get from the shops (and splitting it up into the shops or sections in the shops) will really make food shopping easier.

Arm in Orange jumper with pen in hand

#7 – Christmas Shopping List

This is a shopping list NOT for food โ€“ and NOT for presents. Itโ€™s everything else that we need to think about to get in the run up to the big day.

Things like spare batteries, extra home items, Christmas decorations, wrapping etcโ€ฆ. can all be added here.

Related: 9 Christmas Essentials Every Home Needs

#8 – Main TO DO list (of course!)

Adding an extra dimension to your usual day to day schedule โ€“ Christmas has itโ€™s own layer of TO Dos that need to be, well, done! โ€“ So keeping track in a list makes sense.

You can also add a column for WHO will do it (delegation is your friend!)

#9 – Christmas Bucket List

There are always things that weโ€™d like to do during this time of year, and with all the busyness they can easily be lost โ€“ unless we track them somewhere.

I find that getting everyone in the family to sit and brainstorm what they want to do (or just doing one for you!) is a great list to start as early in the preparations as possible, because then you can plan in as many as you can.

Related: 82 Christmas Bucket List Activities – Which Will You Put On Yours?

#10 – Traditions List

Along the same lines as the Christmas Bucket list โ€“ a traditions list is a list of things that you always do โ€“ or want to start always doing โ€“ that you donโ€™t want to forget about.

For some ideas of traditions you can check out THIS POST

#11 – Home Cleaning Checklist

Even at Christmas the chores have to be done!

For Christmas, your cleaning may be more detailed (a little like Spring cleaning) โ€“ as you may want to be more thorough before the decorations go up (it can be harder to clean when they’re in the way), or if youโ€™re having lots of guests etcโ€ฆ

NOTE: An extra list you might also want to add is a decluttering list โ€“ because decluttering things before Christmas makes sense when you create a little time for it. Itโ€™s especially good for kids toys, so they make room for new ones and give older ones to charity โ€“ for example.

#12 – Christmas Movie List

There are so many to choose from!

Having a list of them means you wonโ€™t forget any classics โ€“ because once Christmas is over, youโ€™ll have to wait a whole year to be able to watch them (unless you like Christmas in July like some TV channels do, of course)

#13 – Christmas Music List

We have a Michael Buble CD that goes on loop each Christmas โ€“ as it has all my favourite Christmas songs on it, and I love the vibe of his music, and it really gets us in the Christmas spirit.

However, you may want to create your own playlist โ€“ especially if youโ€™re entertaining a lot over this period.

Having a list of everyones favourites along with some classics will make it easier to create your own soundtrack to the season.

13 Lists you MUST have to prepare for Christmas

So โ€“ how many of these lists do you already have when you start to prepare for Christmas?

I hope that a few of these Christmas Lists are new to you and will help you get even more organised this year (and maybe help you to delegate a little of the prep work as well โ€“ your Christmas present to yourself!)

And donโ€™t forget to grab your Christmas Planner if you want loads of these lists ready made for you in one gorgeous printable pack โ€“ it really is a MUST HAVE!

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