Instead

Well, yes, I should be cleaning right this very moment. Of course I WAS planning to do so over an hour ago, BEFORE I had to troubleshoot the printer problems that everyone seems to be having today. . .AHEM!

Whilst accomplishing the things I could do while awaiting the various fixes to take place, (which as it turns out were all NO GOOD, except for the winner:  restarting the modem), I opened a spreadsheet on Google Drive and realized that I did not share this most excellent idea for "large" families who exchange names and gift lists at Christmas time.  If that is you, read on.  If not, it's up to you.

To be succinct, I am the Christmas "elf" at our house.  I keep track of everyone's gift lists, who is buying for whom, and all the purchased-on-line and the real-world-store purchased packages.  There are more details associated with this process, but we will leave it there for now.  In order to facilitate a more efficient process for gifts being selected off said lists, I created a shared spreadsheet on Google Drive onto which family members were encouraged (required, unless they do not have access) to add their desired items with link to the items if at all possible.  This also allowed the gift-giver to view the list, view the items and choose what they would like to give from his/her respective internet-accessible location and at his/her convenience (3 young people in college).  Next the giver would let me know what to order, and I would coordinate orders from the same seller as much as possible. 

Another most excellent thing that my husband suggested we do was to agree to the 30 day trial of Amazon Prime.  This saved us oodles in cost on items and shipping.  I highly recommend Amazon Prime, especially if you order birthday presents and other items (home education) throughout the year; there are nine of us in our immediate family, so it's all good!

We will be repeating the on-line spreadsheet idea until we no longer give Christmas gifts in this same fashion or until a better way of organizing it all comes across my desk.

How do you keep track of your Christmas shopping?  What other related tips do you have for saving time and money in the process?


Enjoy this article? Receive email alerts when new articles are available! Just click on the Follow button or subscribe above.