Christmas is only a few days away, and for many, it will be a time when we can at least forgot about this pandemic, albeit for a short period of time, with limited time to spend with loved ones, we want to maximise the holidays as much as we can, so in true #TimeSavingGurus fashion we have put together our 10 time-saving tips so that you can focus on quality time during the lead up to Christmas and on the big day itself.
Save Time Before Christmas
- Order online and avoid town shopping
Ordering online should always be a priority when living with a pandemic, the fewer people that are entering retail establishments right now the better it will be for the health of our residents, but not only that, it will also save you a load of time and money if you don’t get distracted by offers that is, no drive, fuel, parking charges and think of the hours that will be saved. Amazon can be your friend.
- Make a Christmas shopping list
Create a Christmas shopping list and check it (at least) twice
Create a shopping list and make sure to check it (at least) twice ????, write down an amount that you can afford, followed by the people’s names that you will buy for this year, then add groceries, Christmas tree, decorations, and anything else that you will need for the big day, you have now created your budget, start assigning amounts to each element. Remember that your list should include everything that you will spend on it, sticking to your list will remove the need to impulse buy.
- Monitor your spending
The majority of people don’t know how much they have spent on Christmas, they just feel the pinch in January, it’s a terrible way of managing your Christmas expenses, and to stop overspending, you need to regularly monitor your spending.
Starling Banks’ spaces function is great for this, you can create spaces within your current account for saving purposes and move money between the main account and back, you are even able to order a separate card that is related to a space, for really keeping track of your spending. To start saving for Christmas early, you can even roundup spending and have it transferred directly into the space, round up to the nearest pound, or even double or treble the roundups. By consolidating and monitoring, you will reduce the time that will be spent reviewing multiple credit card and bank statements.
- Shop early and avoid the rush
Start thinking about Christmas shopping as early as possible in the year, don’t just wait for the Black Friday sales, be mindful of spring and summer sales, this will lower the stress and reduce spending into manageable chunks throughout the year and you will shop at more convenient times with fewer people about. Don’t leave your Christmas shopping to Christmas Eve!
- Wrap your presents as soon as you get them
Wrap your presents early
Avoid spending Christmas Eve wrapping presents and start wrapping them on the day that you have them delivered or bought them, this will also mean that you have less worry about the kids finding and seeing what you have purchased, this #TimeSavingGuru tip will save you energy and time which you can reuse with your family.
Time Saving Tips for Christmas Day
- Ask your guests to bring things with them
Delegate your cooking tasks by asking your guests to bring a dish with them, whether its an appetiser or a dessert, delegate so you can focus on cooking the main meal, you will really appreciate the extra few hours that this will save you.
- Prep your meat and veggies the day before
Spent time with your children and loved ones on Christmas morning rather than preparing the turkey or vegetables by prepping them the evening before, you can parboil vegetables the day before and rest them in cold water so that they keep their colour and crunch. Turkeys can be stuffed and basted the night before after defrosting too.
- Make a Christmas Day ‘To-Do List’
Make to do list for for Christmas Day celebrations
How many times do we prepare and cook Christmas day lunch, and then realise halfway through eating that something was missing, perhaps you forgot the stuffing or a missing vegetable, avoid this by making a to do list and do this in advance not on the day itself, even put a time and estimated duration for each task to really focus on time-saving, and why your at it, why not plan a schedule for the whole day, you will really appreciate the reduction of stress and increase of relaxation time.
- Get others to make the drinks
You invite your guests into your home whilst still finishing the cooking, and then you need to deal with making the drinks, and not only is this time consuming, but you have also bought 10 different bottles of alcohol which you then offer out to your guests as drinks, you are now chef, waiter and bar person, don’t do it, learn the art of time-saving delegation and get someone else to handle the drinks, and yes it can be a guest.
- Use Disposable Aluminium Trays
So, the big day has come, you have cooked and ate the turkey, had a few glasses of wine and for a time you have forgotten about all the dirty pans and baking trays in the kitchen, now is the time to relax, not spending hours cleaning, so reduce the amount of time spent cleaning up by roasting vegetables in disposable aluminium foil trays, trust me, this is one tip to really appreciate after 3 glasses of vino.
If you work long hours, have young children, or perhaps you just have lots of commitments, do you really want to be heading to the shops at the end of the day for Christmas items, so instead of rushing, and stressing yourself, why not make use of the #TimeSavingGurus time-saving tips so you can really enjoy the limited time over the festive period with family and friends.
The #TimeSavingGurus would like to wish you all the best for the holiday season and we will be back again in 2021.