July is here, we’re more than halfway through the year. Now is the time to get ahead of the game for the last half of the year. So much happens in the fall and winter- school, Halloween, football, the holidays… Start preparing now and ease your stress level. Here are a few suggestions that will help you:
- School- Get your back to school plan in place now. Lists are your friends- make a budget and a list of the clothes and supplies each child will need and stick to your list. Sticking to your list will prevent you from spending too much and from stressing over knowing if you’re done. Start shopping one season ahead, hit the end of summer sales to purchase clothes for next spring/summer.
- Family calendar- Get a family calendar this is large and monthly. Put it in your kitchen (or your most lived in room) and start filling it with important dates as they come in. Mark dates for important things such as Halloween, but include a deadline date for prepping—the week before Halloween designate a date for purchasing party supplies and costumes.
- Budget and save for holiday shopping. List out everyone you need to shop for, don’t forget to include teachers. Set a dollar amount for each person and add up the total you need. Try to list ideas for gifts so you know what items you’ll need to buy. Watch out for daily deals- sites like BigBham.com offer deep discounts on gift certificates. If you were planning to purchase a bike for your son, you may see a 50% off gift certificate that you can use and save even more money.
Don’t forget our list of ways to ease the holiday stress by planning now. It’s not too late to implement some of these ideas.
