Christmas is right around the corner! I wanted to share how I keep track of everything during Christmas time. Purchases made for the kids, family, co-workers, bucket list, Elf on the Shelf planning, sending out Christmas cards, and more.

I created this Christmas planner going on three years in a row now! It helps me so much during the busy holiday season. I’m sure there are actual Christmas planners that you can buy that are a lot prettier, but this entire notebook costs me $1.00!!! That’s it! Here’s how I do it…

What you need:
– Composition notebook from the dollar store
– Christmas paper
– Tape/glue
– Stapler

All I do is buy a composition notebook from the dollar store, and that is all! Everything else I already have at home, and if you don’t have everything else at home you can most likely get at the dollar store as well, or somewhere fairly cheap. You could use any style notebook you’d like!

After you cut out your paper, and glue/tape it to your notebook, you’ll cut out small squares to use as the tabs. Again, you could use pre-made tabs or add stickers to the tabs, do whatever you’d like! I seriously just use whatever I have at home.

The tabs I make are labeled as the following:
– Bucket List
– Cards
– EOS (stands for Elf on Shelf, in case the kids see it)
– Menu
– The List
– To Do

For the tabs, I fold each red and green paper in half, and staple it to the notebook paper. I mean, can it get any easier? It’s not super fancy, it’s not the most glamourous, and it’s not the best quality, but it has worked for me.

Would you like to know what I put in each tab? Well, here you go!

BUCKET LIST – every year we come up with a list of things to do during the holidays, and I write all the ideas and things we might do. Or if I think of anything to add, I’ll write it down in this tab.

CARDS – for our Christmas cards, I write down each person we sent them to, and I’ll make a handwritten check box so I know that I sent one, and another handwritten check box if we receive one, etc. I also write down what company we used for the cards, so if I really liked the company one year, I’ll remember who we used. Because to be honest, I can never remember where I order the cards from each year!

EOS (Elf on the Shelf) – This year I added a tab for the elf on the shelf, ideas I come up with, or things to buy for whatever crazy thing the elf might do. I might sound crazy for keeping a tab on an elf, but I love all this stuff! My kids are only this young once, so I enjoy every second of this!

MENU – On Christmas Eve/Day morning, we always have a big breakfast with just us at home. Before all the craziness starts of going wherever, we like to make all the fixings for a good ‘ole fashion breakfast.

THE LIST – This tab is the most important of all! THE LIST is all the things purchased! Each person has their own page, and I write down what gift was bought, how much it cost, whether it was received, whether it was wrapped, and then a total dollar amount for each person. We really do try to spend the same amount on the kids, but with the different age gaps, it’s getting harder and harder each year. But this tab is what inspired this planner in the first place, the older I get, the harder it is to remember what I bought, if it was wrapped, etc.

TO DO – This tab is just a regular to do list for the holidays. It usually has random thoughts that I want to remember, or random things I need to do, etc. Super random, and not really specific.

Front and back of this year’s planner.

This is not the greatest photo since I took it late in the day, from a previous year, but I’ll put a large envelope in the front of the planner for any receipts I might keep. Returns are a big thing for Christmas presents some years!

Here are the previous planners, I started two years ago! I couldn’t find last years when I was making this year’s planner, but funny how I picked the same paper as the cover. I love it, and it helps me so much!

I love making the Christmas planner every year! They are just so easy to make, but so functional for the holiday season. It’s sort of like the start of the holidays for me since I make them early November. I need to start shopping now!