How to Stay Organized While Holiday Shopping This Season

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Staying organized while holiday shopping is the key to sanity! I love holiday shopping, but not the chaos that usually ensues! It’s hard enough when you’re out shopping due to the crowds alone, and when you have a long shopping list to focus on, that task becomes even more difficult.

Organization is the only way I can get any shopping done when there are a ton of distractions around me. Needless to say, I’m easily distracted!

My shopping list is my saving grace and makes the process a lot less stressful. There’s more that goes into just making a list though! Detailing and organizing said list are just a few of my tricks!

I’m sharing all about how I stay organized while holiday shopping since this is what I’ve learned works best for me. Doing all of these things saves me time, energy, and my sanity, and if we’re being honest, the latter is the most important of them all! 

HOW TO STAY ORGANIZED WHILE HOLIDAY SHOPPING

Make a List of Everyone You Will Be Shopping For

This list should include all friends, family, coworkers, teachers, neighbors, etc that you will be shopping for. Putting everyone’s name on paper will help ensure you don’t forget anyone, that way you can check them off as you go.

Create Separate Lists Based on Groups

Once you have a list of every person you’ll be shopping for, then next thing to do is create separate lists for those people based on groups. So, a list for the kids, a list for each side of the family (your family, your hubby’s), a list for coworkers, friends, etc.

Having a separate list based on groups will help you prioritize who you need to shop for first, and will make budgeting easier.

Set a Budget for Each Person

While staying organized when holiday shopping is important, so is staying in budget! By planning out your shopping list, you’re less likely to be as harsh on your bank account.

This will help you see the big picture of how much everything will cost, especially per person, and give you time to decide if you need to add or take away anything on your shopping list based on your budget.

Clear a Designated Space to Store Gifts

Having a designated drop off space to store all of your gifts will also help keep you organized during your holiday shopping process! I like to clear out a corner of the closet just for gifts, that way the rest of the house isn’t cluttered and I can have easy access to everything when I’m ready to start wrapping.

TIPS FOR ORGANIZING YOUR HOLIDAY SHOPPING LIST

Create a Breakdown of Gifts

My #1 rule for holiday shopping is to think of gifts you’d like to buy ahead of time before you step foot into a store, that way you won’t feel overwhelmed looking at every single thing in the store – especially with the crowds, which can sometimes me difficult to maneuver around. 

Sort Items on Your List Based on Location

Start small by organizing your shopping list based on location – online vs in-store, then organize the items by store. Color coding comes in handy for this! This makes shopping in-store much easier, as you won’t be sifting through a large list of items and trying to decide which of those items are actually sold at the store you’re in. This method also helps you plan your day and order of stops if you’ll be hitting up multiple places. This could save you a ton of time with holiday traffic if planned correctly too! 

 

These are the best pens for color coding your shopping list. They come in 27 different vibrant colors! Hover over the image above to shop them!

Flag Items on Your List for Sales

This is another favorite method of mine! Using a color coded symbol to flag certain items that are going on sale is super helpful when it comes to saving money. If there are certain items on my list that I plan to scoop up during exclusive sale days like Black Friday and Cyber Monday, I’ll make note of that item on my list with a color-coded legend so I don’t forget about it! 

Create a Gift Labeling System

If your family is anything like mine, you may have a bunch of gift snoopers in the house! To keep everything a surprise, I stopped labeling gifts by name. Instead, I use code words or symbols in place of names on gift tags! I also color-coordinate these to help keep me organized.

FAVORITE PENS FOR COLOR CODING AND HOLIDAY CARD WRITING

My all-time favorite pens for color coding shopping lists and gift tags are the Pilot G2 Premium Retractable Gel Ink Rolling Ball Pen. These have been my go-to for years now, for as long as I can remember. I’m obsessed with the big packs because they come in a ton of colors – like every color of the rainbow you could imagine!

This is a must when you’re trying to color code a long shopping list. With these pens, you’ll be sure to have a unique color for all the names on your list!

They come in four different point sizes and barrel styles and have a very comfortable grip with smooth gliding ink, making them the ultimate pen for the everyday overachiever! 

Oh and right now the #1 selling gel ink pen in America, the G2 20pk Assorted, is on rollback at Walmart for only $19.86! 
My next favorite is the Pilot FriXion® erasable gel pens, because as the name says, they’re erasable! These really come in handy for holiday card writing since you can erase any mistakes without having to throw away the entire card.

This is the only pen that has smooth gel writing ink and gives you the power of infinite do-overs so you can write, erase, and re-write as often as needed.

You can grab a 10pk on rollback for only $9.88! 

Do you have any tricks or a special routine you follow to stay organized while holiday shopping? Share your tips in the comments below!