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Get organised with our handy guide

It’s never too early to start planning for the festive season, as our friends at Your Best Ever Christmas Magazine can confirm. Here, they share their handy planner for a stress-free run-up to the most wonderful time of the year.

We’ll start the countdown now, but look out for more instalments in our festive supplements which run right through the Christmas planning season.

We all love a Christmas outing or two but as there’s so much happening at this time of year, it’s all too easy to forget about something.

To ensure you don’t miss out on too much, make a note in your diary or the calendar app of your phone of any definite or potential Christmas happenings such as office nights out, trips to the panto, carol services, school nativity plays and annual catch-ups with friends.

Once an outing’s confirmed, if you need to stay over or arrange travel, make any necessary bookings as accommodation can be in short supply in December, while booking train or bus tickets in advance can lead to considerable savings.

Start by making a list of who’s coming to dinner. If invitations are required, send a text message to your potential guests, asking them to let you know if they can make it and if they have any allergies or food intolerances to take into account when planning your menu.

Once you know how many people will be around your table on Christmas Day and if there’s anything they can’t eat, plan your menu – and set a budget.

Flick through online recipes or your favourite cookbooks until you have the menu of your choice and a rough idea of the cost.

Once you’ve decided on Christmas dinner, it’s time to make up your gift list and decide on your present-buying budget.

Help control your spending by being realistic about who to buy for and how much you can afford to spend.

Next, book a day off work or rearrange your schedule so you can go on your first Christmas shopping trip at the beginning of November – ideally at the start of the week, when the shops are quieter.

In the meantime, get cracking with any handmade cards or gifts you’re planning to make. Homemade chocolate-chip cookies can be frozen until required; marmalades, jams and

chutneys will stay fresh for months; and, if you can knit, there’s nothing quite as heart-warming as a hand-knitted jumper (but you have to start now!).

Start baking your Christmas Cake so that you can feed it with brandy every week before decorating. In between menu-creating, list-writing and craft-making, squeeze in a pre-Christmas deep clean so you don’t end up with all the housework to do on December 24.

Christmas is creeping closer by the day so now’s the time to start your planning.