How to Use The Nice List Christmas Workbook
The Nice List is my love letter to the Christmas season. Christmas has always been the busiest time of year for me professionally which made it hard to enjoy some of the simple parts of Christmas. So, I developed The Nice List which made all the difference for me and my family. And I know using The Nice List will make your entire Christmas season easier and less stressful! It’s really easy!
Below I have given you step-by-step instructions for using all of the tools in The Nice List. It takes a little planning, but the end result is so much better! So grab your copy of The Nice List and a cup of tea, and let’s begin making this your best Christmas ever!
Note: All photographs show the one of the paper editions, but the same content and process are included in all three versions of The Nice List — Digital, Printable, and Paper.
1. Make your list. Check it twice!
Write down all of the people to whom you usually give gifts at the holidays. Just use the lined pages at the back or a scrap piece of paper for this list.
2. Sort Your List
Open The Nice List to page 81 and begin sorting your list of names into three categories:
Family: which, of course, can include close friends -- these are the people on whom you will spend the most money and the most effort finding a meaningful gift
Friends: the friends for whom you want to give a personal gift; this may include more distant family, people in gift exchanges, and friends who exchange small, less expensive presents.
Work/School: the people to whom you want to give a token of love and appreciation which may include teachers, coworkers, neighbors, carpool members, and the like.
3. Set your Budget
Be honest with yourself. How much can you actually afford to spend on Christmas gifts? There are great gifts to give in every price range. Seriously! You don’t have to go deep into debt to afford Christmas. Set out what you can actually afford, and then fill out the budgeting worksheet on page 76.
Then write those numbers in the blanks at the top of each giving list. That will help to keep you honest as you are shopping!
Note: If you need help check out Setting Your Christmas Budget & Sticking to It! There I have included detailed instructions on how to do the math to set your category budgets.
4. Family Pages
Grab a cup of tea and sit down to fill out your family pages. Each person on your family list gets a separate page to record ideas, needs and wants, interests, maybe favorite brands or collections.
What have you given in the past that they loved?
Does he have any new interests or hobbies in the last year?
What did you give her for her birthday this year?
All of these pieces of information can help you choose great gifts for these people -- now and in the future!
This is also a great activity to do as a couple or as a family; my husband and I do this together every year. Your children or your spouse may know something you don’t!
5. Shopping!
But as you do so, keep your budget in mind. Remember, thoughtful gifts don’t have to be expensive.
Record what you choose, from where, and how much you spend. There’s also room to track shipping as needed.
As you shop or create, there are some easy ways to make gifts meaningful:
Consider grouping people together for gifts
Instead of giving each member of your sister’s family separate gifts, is there an experience you can give them all to do together?
Make it personalized
A simple pencil case or a scarf is even more special when it is monogrammed.
Give memories, not stuff
An invitation to a coffee date -- your treat -- is far more meaningful than a $10 gift card to your local coffee shop.
For more ideas on thoughtful giving, check out pages 6 and 7 in The Nice List as well as the The Nice List Thoughtful Giving Guide.
There are pages at the back of The Nice List for journaling, list making, taking notes, or scrapbooking. And there’s a handy pocket on the back cover for holding receipts or notes.
And don’t forget to record the gifts you receive on the Thank You Note pages!
I hope using The Nice List will help to make Christmas a more enjoyable and fun season for you and your family! Merry Christmas!
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The Nice List
This listing is for The Nice List Christmas Workbook + The Nice List All Year.
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Free Gift with Purchase: The Nice List books are designed so that they can be used in a Traveler’s Notebook -- a simple way to keep them together. For a Limited Time we will include a FREE handmade, upcycled traveler’s notebook with each purchase of The Nice List Bundle (while supplies last).
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Christmas is a busy time, particularly for parents. With school performances, parties, shopping, baking, and decorating on top of the normal busyness of life, I know many people find the Christmas season to be… overwhelming.
But it doesn’t have to be.
Over the years I have developed a system that helps me stay on budget, on time, and sane! And now with The Nice List, I am sharing that system with you so you can have a more organized and more beautiful Christmas season.
The Nice List Bundle includes two separate notebooks:
The Nice List All Year: a gift-giving tracker to last for years to come
The Nice List Christmas Workbook: a planner for the entire Christmas season to keep you organized and help bring a little sanity to your holiday season
Both are available individually or together as a bundle.
The Nice List Christmas Workbook includes:
How to Use The Nice List
How to Use The Christmas Workbook
November Calendars: weekly and monthly (undated)
December Calendars: weekly and monthly (undated)
Weekly To Do Lists for November and December (undated)
What Sparks Joy for You? Setting priorities for the holiday season
Budgeting worksheets: to establish a budget for your Christmas season — and for each gift, too
Coupons & Codes: tracker for holiday sales and discount codes
Giving Lists: to help you prioritize where you spend you money and on whom
Thoughts on Thoughtful Giving: ideas for gift giving and reducing the stress of the holidays
Thank You Note Tracker
Holiday Card Tracker
Menu Planners
Baking Planners
Shopping Lists
Blank pages for notes and planning
With a little planning and some careful thought before a gift is ever purchased, The Nice List can help you keep Christmas from spinning out of control and help you find the perspective you need. The Nice List helps you set deadlines to avoid high shipping charges and has a tool for tracking all of those promo codes and sale codes that start to flood your email inbox, too.
The Nice List All Year gives you a place to track all of the gifts you give the loved ones in your life -- not just at Christmas time. It is designed to be used for multiple years and can be purchased separately if you have more than 15 people in your life to track.
The Nice List All Year includes:
How to use The Nice List
How to use The Nice List All Year
Giving Records for 15 people covering multiple years
The Nice List All Year is also designed to be used by anyone -- not just people who celebrate Christmas. From Hanukkah to Lunar New year, Kwanzaa to Eid, and birthdays, Father’s Day, Valentine’s Day and more -- record every gift you give and make notes for coming occasions, too.
Plus, when you use The Nice List All Year year after year, you develop a record of your gift-giving, so you never give the same gift twice!
Not only is The Nice List a beautiful planner, but it also comes with online tools including an extensive giving guide with gift suggestions in every budget for every person on your list — parents, inlaws, kids, friends, teachers. We have suggestions for them all and exclusive discount codes as well.
I love the Christmas season so much I have written what my husband described as my “love letter to Christmas” — The Nice List!
Order your copy of The Nice List today, and give yourself the gift of a very organized and holiday season!
LET'S BE FRIENDS!
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ABOUT THE CREATORS:
Angela K. Nickerson (@midmodernmama), author, and Holly Kennedy (@messymamaholly), designer, both love office supplies, planners, stickers, and creative living. They have been producing The Nice List, their first journal product, since 2016 and have been collaborating on projects big and small for almost 15 years. Together they are @owlandember and owlandember.com.
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