Christmas Planner
DWC
PRINTABLES
Christmas
Planner
One month. One plan.
dwcmagazine.com · Strong Women, Strong Voices
Where to start
Read this one. Print the rest.
Christmas rarely fails on the day. It fails in the last week of November, when the gift budget is still a number in your head, the cards are unwritten and nobody has said who is sleeping where.
Work in this order
- Late November Budget, gift list, card list. Write the names before you write the ideas, and put a figure beside every name.
- Early December Cards posted, parcels sent, guests and beds confirmed. Postage deadlines are on the post sheet.
- Mid December Food ordered, menus fixed, dietary needs collected, decor up, baking planned.
- Final week Shopping list, cooking timings, the running order for the day. Nothing new gets added after this point.
- After Expenses, thank yous, and the next-year sheet while you still remember what went wrong.
Three rules that save the most
Put a budget beside every name before you shop. A gift list without figures is a wish list, and it always overspends.
Write down who is coming, which nights they stay, and what they cannot eat, in one place. Every argument in December starts with someone assuming.
Work the day backwards from when you want to eat. The cooking timings sheet does this properly, and it is the difference between a calm morning and a cold starter.
Printing
On screen, tick the sheets you want at the top of the page and print only those. Each sheet is sized for a single A4 page. The gift list, card list and cooking timings are the three most worth printing twice.
Notes before you begin
December
The whole month on one page
Dates that cannot move
| Date | What is happening |
|---|
Deadlines I have set myself
Notes
Budget
Set the total before you set anything else
| Where it goes | Estimated | Actual |
|---|---|---|
| Gifts | ||
| Stocking fillers | ||
| Food | ||
| Drink | ||
| Cards and stamps | ||
| Wrapping and postage | ||
| Decorations and tree | ||
| Travel | ||
| Events and nights out | ||
| Charity and giving | ||
| Sales and January spending | ||
| Total |
Notes
Expenses
Every receipt, as it happens
| Date | What it was | Where | Cost |
|---|
Gift list
Names first, then ideas, then figures
| Who | Idea | Budget | Spent | Bought, wrapped, sent |
|---|
Gift list
Continued
| Who | Idea | Budget | Spent | Bought, wrapped, sent |
|---|
Stockings
The spending that hides from the budget
| Item | Cost |
|---|
| Item | Cost |
|---|
Teachers, neighbours, postman, anyone else
| Who | What | Cost |
|---|
Group gifts
Shared costs and Secret Santa
Secret Santa
| Who I have | Idea | Bought |
|---|
Gifts being split
| For | What | Split with | My share |
|---|
Money owed and collected
| Who | Amount | Paid |
|---|
Thank yous
Write it down on the day
| From | What they gave | Thanked, and how |
|---|
Cards
Written, addressed, posted
| Name | Address | Sent | Had one back |
|---|
Post
Check this year's deadlines and write them in
Last posting dates
Deadlines change every year. Check the Royal Mail dates in late November and write them here.
| Destination and service | Last day to post |
|---|---|
| International, furthest destinations | |
| Europe | |
| UK second class | |
| UK first class | |
| UK special delivery | |
Parcels to send
| To | What is inside | Post by | Cost | Sent |
|---|
Tracking numbers
Who is coming
And which nights they stay
| Name | Arrives | Leaves | Sleeping where | Notes |
|---|
Beds and bedding
Notes
The day
Work backwards from when you eat
| Time | What happens, and who is doing it |
|---|
Notes
Cooking timings
The sheet that saves the day
| Dish | Oven or hob | Temp | How long | Starts at | Out at |
|---|
Done the day before
The menu
What is actually being served
Starter
Main
Sides and trimmings
Pudding
Sauces and extras
Cheese and after
Who is bringing what
Notes
Menu ideas
Christmas Eve to New Year
Christmas Eve
Christmas morning
Boxing Day
Leftovers, and the days between
Food shopping
Ordered, collected, or bought on the day
Meat, fish and fresh
Vegetables
Store cupboard and frozen
Dairy, baking and the rest
Baking
What gets made, and when
| What | Making on | For | Notes |
|---|
Ingredients to buy
Tins, boxes and packaging needed
Drinks
Count the drivers and the children first
Soft drinks
Wine, beer and spirits
Notes
Dietary needs
Allergies first, preferences second
| Who | Adult or child | Requirement or allergy | What they are having instead |
|---|
Decorations
Room by room
| Room | What goes there | Need to buy |
|---|
Tree and lights
Inside and out
Before the tree goes up
Outside
To buy
The house
Done before the guests arrive
Rooms
Supplies people forget
Anything else
Wrapping
Count it before December
Supplies
| Item | Have | Need | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wrapping paper | |||
| Gift bags | |||
| Tags | |||
| Ribbon and string | |||
| Tape | |||
| Boxes and padding | |||
| Tissue paper | |||
Wrapping sessions
Book the time in. Wrapping always takes longer than the evening you left for it.
| Date | How long | What is getting wrapped |
|---|
Hiding places, so you can find them again
Day by day
One small thing for each of the first 24 days
| Day | What we are doing | Day | What we are doing |
|---|
Ideas to draw from
Cheap, quick, and repeatable. The ones children remember cost nothing.
To do
Late November into early December
Late November
First week of December
Second week of December
To do
The last week, and the day itself
Week before
Christmas Eve
Christmas Day
Travel
Who is going where, and when
| Date | Where | Leaving at | Back at | Who is driving |
|---|
Before any long journey
Notes
Events
Plays, parties, carols, work things
| Date | Time | What | Where | Who is going |
|---|
What each one needs
Costumes, contributions, a bottle, a lift home.
Checklist
Four lists, name them yourself
Week plan
Print one for each week of December
Cannot slip
Notes
Day plan
For the busiest days
Notes
Cannot slip
Hour by hour
Today
Traditions
The things worth repeating
Next year
Fill this in before you forget
Keep
Drop
Cost more than it was worth
Start earlier
Bought in the January sales, for next year
| What | Who it is for | Cost | Where it is |
|---|
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