We're just about 2 months away from Christmas! Here are 5 things you should be doing to start preparing for the holidays in the next 30 days.

Update Your Budget

It’s not fun, but it’s important. Make sure you’re tracking your spending as you buy presents and decor. If you haven’t set one up yet, we’ve got a free holiday spending template on our website that’s super simple to use.\

Book Any Holiday Travel

The ideal time to book flights and hotels is around two months out, which, if you can believe it, is right now. Don’t sleep on this - starting three weeks out from the first date of travel, prices start to rise every day.

Create a Shoppable Wish List

If people are asking you for your wish list, or if you’re making one for a kid, there are some really great tools to make this a lot easier on you. There are websites like Gift Hero and even Amazon that allow you to make a shoppable wish list for yourself or someone else, which ensures multiple people won’t buy the same gift.

Request Others' Wish Lists

Wish Lists aren’t always on people’s radar until December, so start reaching out to your friends and family who you shop for and try to get their wish list, or at least a sense of what they’d like for the holidays this year. My son had a lot of fun going through the Amazon Kids Gift Guide this year, just like I used to love to do with the Toys R Us catalog when I was a kid! 

Book Holiday Parties

If you’re going to host a holiday party this year, whether for work, or family and friends, you definitely want to be booking those dates now. Get quotes from venues and restaurants so you can compare them and aren’t left scrambling at the last minute. If you’re hosting at your house, but you need vendors like caterers, rental furniture, or DJs, you should also be booking those vendors STAT.