Trying to figure out how to plan Christmas gifts? Stay on top of holiday gift giving this year with this Christmas gift planning guide!
- Christmas Gift Planning Tips & Tricks
- Tip #1 – Create a Christmas Gift Giving List & Budget
- Tip #2 – Set Spending Amounts Per Person
- Tip #3 – Ask Questions To Brainstorm Gift Ideas
- Tip #4 – Use the 5 Gift Rule for Christmas Gift Giving
- Tip #5 – Use a Christmas Gift Planner
- Tip #6 – Christmas Gift Shopping Throughout The Year
- Tip #7 – Stay Organized With Gift Wrapping & Storage
- Tip #8 – Give & Enjoy!
- More Christmas Planning Ideas
- Pin It For Later!
Christmas Gift Planning Tips & Tricks
A lot of people find giving Christmas gifts to be stressful. What if someone doesn’t like the gift you bought for them?
How many gifts is too many for Christmas? How much should you spend on Christmas gifts for each person? In total?
In this Christmas gift planning guide, I cover some simple tips you can use to map out your gift giving this holiday season.
Use these methods to get ready for Christmas gift giving no matter the time of year.
Tip #1 – Create a Christmas Gift Giving List & Budget
No one likes to budget, but without one, it’s really easy to overspend around the holidays. For many people, Christmas gifts will be the biggest part of their Christmas budget.
This is especially true if you have children at home or are big into gift giving.
So before you buy anything, make sure you have a plan! There’s no sense in going into debt over the holidays, especially over Christmas presents.
For some tips on how to set a Christmas budget, check out this post: Christmas Budget Planning Mistakes – How To Stop Christmas Overspending
To start your Christmas gift budget, create a list of all the people you plan on giving gifts to. Consider:
- Spouse, partner, boyfriend, girlfriend
- Children
- Parents
- Siblings
- Grandparents
- Aunts, uncles
- Nieces, nephews
- Cousins
- Pets
- Friends
- Teachers
- Delivery, service personnel
- Neighbors
- Coworkers
- Charity donations, gifts
Tip #2 – Set Spending Amounts Per Person
There are no hard and fast rules about how much your should spend on Christmas gifts. Most Christmas spending is based on income level.
Still, it can be helpful to have some guidelines. Consider the following spending suggestions for Christmas gifts:
$200 Christmas Gift Budget for Kids
- Kids aged 10 to 18+
$100 Christmas Gift Budget for Kids
- Kids aged 0 to 9
$100 Christmas Gift Budget for Couples
- Spouse, partner, boyfriend, girlfriend
$50 – $75 Christmas Gift Budget for Family
- Parents
- Siblings
$25 – $50 Christmas Gift Budget for Family
- Grandparents
- Aunts, uncles
- Nieces, nephews
- Cousins
$25 or less Christmas Gift Budget for Friends & Others
- Pets
- Friends
- Teachers
- Delivery, service personnel
- Neighbors
- Coworkers
Will your budget cover gifts for all the people on your list? If not, make adjustments until you find a spending amount per person that works. This will determine how much to save for Christmas gifts this year.
Tip #3 – Ask Questions To Brainstorm Gift Ideas
Now that you have a list of people to buy Christmas gifts for and a Christmas gift budget, it’s time to start brainstorming gift ideas.
It might sound silly, but one of the best ways to figure out what people want for Christmas is to just ask them! You might be surprised at what they have to say.
You can also ask them indirectly by considering the following:
- What are the hobbies they enjoy?
- What is the music/artists they listen to?
- What are the movies & TV shows they watch?
- What are the board games & video games they play?
- What are the foods & beverages they enjoy?
- What is their favorite color?
- What are the local places they frequent?
- Are there any “experience” type gifts they might enjoy instead of a physical gift?
By going through these questions, you’re bound to get a few ideas for just about everyone on your list.
Start to write down Christmas gift ideas as they come to you. Don’t forget about stocking stuffers and Advent calendar gifts.
Tip #4 – Use the 5 Gift Rule for Christmas Gift Giving
Is one gift enough for Christmas? Yes, absolutely.
For many people on your Christmas gift list, you’ll end up giving them just one gift. And that’s ok.
But what about those that will receive multiple Christmas gifts?
How many gifts are too many? What is the appropriate numbers of gifts to give at Christmas?
This is where the 5 Gift Rule for Christmas comes in. It’s just a simple list of Christmas gift ideas to give to someone. These include:
- Something they want
- Something they need
- Something to wear
- Something to read
- Something special just for them
If you tend to go overboard with Christmas gifts, or don’t know where to start, consider using these 5 rules for Christmas gifts. You can also make it into a 3 Gift Rule or 4 Gift Rule. Whatever works best for you and your family.
Want to give more than 5 gifts? Add these extra ideas to the 5 Gift Rule to create a 7 Gift Rule or 10 Gift Rule:
- Something to do
- Something for the family to enjoy together
- Something for service/charity
- Something fun
- Something practical
These gift rules for Christmas are just guidelines. In reality, it doesn’t matter how many gifts you buy someone, but rather that you buy gifts with intention instead of just purchasing items at random.
Tip #5 – Use a Christmas Gift Planner
You have now have your Christmas gift budget and a list of possible gift options for Christmas. It’s time to put it together and make your Christmas gift list.
This is a big list of:
- Who you need to buy Christmas gifts for
- How much to spend on each person
- Gift ideas per person
If you’re looking for a printable Christmas gift planner, check out my Ultimate Christmas Planner! It’s got several Christmas gift planning worksheets that serve as a Christmas gift list planner & tracker.
Grab the Ultimate Christmas Planner printable HERE!
The Ultimate Christmas Planner includes a Christmas gift planning template that you can use to track Black Friday & Cyber Monday sales, plan out stocking stuffers & more.
It also includes a Christmas gift budget planner to track your Christmas savings & spending goals. A must have if you’re trying to get more organized this year.
Tip #6 – Christmas Gift Shopping Throughout The Year
Now for the fun part – shopping! Shopping for Christmas gifts can be exciting, but it can also make you anxious.
Christmas gift planning upfront will ease some of the tension of buying gifts for the holidays.
Technically, you can shop for Christmas gifts all year along. Keep an eye out for Christmas gifts at:
- End of season sales & clearances
- Gifts shops on vacation
- Farmers markets & craft shows
- Street fairs
Buying Christmas gifts throughout the year is a great way to spread out the money you plan to spend on gifts.
As you shop for gifts, don’t forget to write down how much you’re spending so that you can stay on budget.
Money within you gift budget can be shifted around as needed based on how much the Christmas gifts actually cost.
Tip #7 – Stay Organized With Gift Wrapping & Storage
Wondering how to organize Christmas gifts and where to store them?
Closer to Christmas, wrapped gifts can be stored under the Christmas tree or displayed on a sideboard, in front of the hearth, etc. Closets, attics, storage units, etc. all make for great places to hide gifts until Christmas.
Don’t want someone snooping on a gift you bought them? Give it to a friend or extended family member to hold onto until the big day.
Some people like to wrap Christmas gifts as soon as they buy them. Or have the store wrap the gifts for them.
Other people like to doing a big gift wrapping session or two closer to Christmas. Either way, be sure to stay organized with your presents and keep track of what you bought and how much you spent.
Don’t forget to write down who the gift is for and what it is before you wrap it. Otherwise you might have to undo your wrapping if you forget!
Tip #8 – Give & Enjoy!
Hey, Christmas gift giving is stressful sometimes! Hopefully it’s worth all the effort when you see the positive reaction on their face as they open their gift 🙂
I hope these Christmas gift planning tip & tricks help you get organized this year and reduce your holiday stress.
Get organized for Christmas this year with this FREE printable Christmas planning checklist. Sign up below for an instant download!
Looking for additional printables to help with your Christmas planning? Check out my FULL Christmas Planner HERE!
More Christmas Planning Ideas
For more info on how to plan your best Christmas yet, check out these posts:
- The Complete Christmas Planning Guide For Busy People
- Ultimate Christmas Planner Printable – Best Christmas Planner for This Year
- Christmas Dinner Planning Guide For The Ultimate Holiday Feast
- Now Or Later? Here’s When To Start Planning For Christmas
- 48 Hours Of Awesome – How To Plan Christmas Day & Eve
- Christmas Budget Planning Mistakes – How To Stop Christmas Overspending
- How To Plan Christmas Decorations The Easy Way
- 72 Christmas Planning Tips For A Surprisingly Easy Christmas
- {Free Printable!} A Christmas Planning Checklist For This Year
- {Free Printable!} Save Money With This Christmas Budget Printable
- {Free Printable!} Christmas Meal Planner Printable to Prep a Feast
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