This the 8th of the 12 Days of Holiday Organizing series, which is part of the 12 Days of Homeschooling Fun with crafts, meal planning, recipes, holiday-themed study units and more!
Through trial and error, and lots of regifting, I realized a gift tracker is a must!
Gift-giving is one of my favorite things! I love it so much, I often give the same thing to the same person year after year. I get ideas of what to give people throughout the year, but I never remember when it’s crunch time and the bells are ringing.
I take advantage of the sales during the holidays, and the after-holiday clearance to fill the gift closet for family and friends. And then I promptly forget about them. I have trackers for each holiday, budgets, self-care and homeschool planners, each of which contains places to keep lists of all I have on hand. But I don’t have anything for birthdays. And those happen all year long! So I made one.
It’s a great way to keep track of the things you’ve bought and where they are stored as well as what you gave last year. I use it at Christmas time to realize what I’ve already given so I don’t give repeat gifts. There are only so many Lego gifts, coffee mugs and sweaters one person or family can handle! Stay organized through the holidays for a glorious gift-giving year!
Trackers for Organization
We have a lot of December birthdays, so buying double during the month can be a daunting endeavor. I come across gifts that are perfect for that special someone six months before their birthday, stash it, and, again, forget it.
I also have come across great gifts for the twins, if they were older. That has been a lot of fun, saved some cash in the budget and I jotted down in my holiday planner in summer that I had bought them this item for next year so I don’t forget. It’s easy to remember because their birthday is Dec. 21 (a palindrome birthday for the twins!).
That’s when the ah-ha moment came. A birthday tracker. Duh. So simple, and so useful. It also helps me remember what I gave them last year. This is good for a few reasons. One, I don’t give them another sweater, jacket or pullover and B, I can get them something that complements the gift I gave them last year or build on the theme.
I use a pencil to jot down the item under the name. Tastes and interests can change as kids grow and that magic set you got on after-Christmas clearance may not be what they are into anymore, although it may be good for a friend’s child or a niece or nephew. By penciling it in, you can change the info and keep track of all you have and who it is for.
How to Use the Tracker
I designed this birthday gift idea tracker so you can use it any way that works best. Here’s a plain page to use to keep track of anyone. The birthday gift tracker packet is broken down into family, friends, children, grandparents, teachers and coworkers, etc.
And, there is a tracker for YOU! Every year my husband asks me for a list at Christmas, my birthday and mother’s day. And every year I think I have one. I go to my Amazon wish list, and it’s all stuff for him and the kids. I go down rabbit holes of shiny new toys for him and them and never come back to what I meant to put on the list for ME. I’m much more of a list maker on paper.
I designed this birthday gift idea tracker so you can use it any way that works best. Here’s a plain page to use to keep track of anyone. The birthday gift tracker packet is broken down into family, friends, children, grandparents, teachers and coworkers, etc.
And, there is a tracker for YOU! Every year my husband asks me for a list at Christmas, my birthday and mother’s day. And every year I think I have one. I go to my Amazon wish list, and it’s all stuff for him and the kids. I go down rabbit holes of shiny new toys for him and them and never come back to what I meant to put on the list for ME. I’m much more of a list maker on paper.
Write the recipient’s name in the left-hand column and then:
- Gift idea
- Where you saw it or where to buy it
- Price point
- Bought and/or Sent
You can download the Birthday Tracker single page gift list and the single page Christmas Holiday Gift List from the Holiday Planner & Organizer Kit
