Never Need A Last Minute Gift Again: 3 Steps to organizing your Gifting

Anyone else's kid ever forgot to tell them about a birthday party until the last minute? Yeah, most of the time, it's a sorry, but you aren't going, but sometimes, depending on the relationship, you have to make it work. The first thing that flashes through my mind in that moment is schedule. The second is "I need a gift". This has happened more than a few times over the years and I have learned a few strategies for staying ahead so that I'm not running out to the store spending twice what I usually would out of convenience. I started shopping for gifts year round a couple of years ago and it has significantly reduced the stress level and allowed us to be thoughtful and generous in our gift giving. For our family, year round gifting includes:

1.  Making a list and checking it twice. This includes both birthdays, Christmas and Special Occasions. I use a yearly calendar worksheet for birthdays and a Christmas planner for Christmas. Special Occasions are marked in on the side of my weekly and monthly goal sheets. I then shop by season for gifts and can look for Christmas gifts year round. My goal every year is to have 95% of my Christmas shopping done by October. This really allows me to enjoy the holidays without the stress of the crowds. 
2. Have a gift drawer. A couple of times a year, I go out and purchase age appropriate gifts around each of my kids ages for both boys and girls. These items then go in the gift drawer and I can allow my kids to pick something for their friend out of what we already have. This helps avoid the last minute stresses of friends birthday parties. 
3. Shop the Clearance. Our kids eat Valentines candy at Easter and Christmas Candy at Valentines day. As long as it is a treat, they don't care what the packaging is. Halloween candy makes great gingerbread house decorations. I also try to get Christmas jammies, seasonal decorations etc. in end of season sales and tuck them away for the next year.