DO you remember the time you realised Santa didn’t exist but kept the pretence going, partly because your parents seemed to be having so much fun and also because you thought you could find the presents so much sooner ....  yet you never did ..... were they magical after all ? ! 

Well we asked our communities the places they hide their presents and here are the Top 10 with a couple of unexpected locations, followed by a couple of useful tips if you are hiding for the first time! 

Join us on our social media @StressLessChristmas and let us know where you hide yours !

The Loft 

Neighbour's House or Garage 

Suitcases Strategically Packed 

Underwear Drawer!! - Yes ideal for some of those smaller pressies

Inside a Divan Bed - Cut the sheet bottom on a Divan Bed and then duct tape or staple it back up. 

Out of Order Toilet - every Christmas the en-suite has a leak!

Storage Unit

Old Appliance Boxes In The Shed 

In the...

Christmas can be a costly time and there are lots of ways you can save money, we wanted to share with you 7 ways the Stress Less Christmas Programme has helped some people save money when purchasing their Christmas Gifts. All 7 are tips you can follow and have come about as a direct result of having time to think ahead and generally being more organised on the lead up to Christmas, people have been inspired to take the programme prompts one step further.... ! 

1 - Getting your Christmas List and the Children's Christmas Wishlists completed in October provides more time to research and source the best prices for those most wanted presents. No more panic buying at premium inflated prices. 

2 - Decluttering key areas of the home in October and selling the decent items creates bonus money,  to feel the saving be sure to pop this money away and earmark it for Christmas shopping only. 

3 -...

Getting the children involved in decluttering their toys is a game changer to taking the stress out of this necessary task leading up to Christmas. We've found that Christmas is an ideal time to get them involved because of the obvious promise of more things to fill in the gaps and when they are on board the task for me (and many others we have spoken with) becomes so much easier!

Decluttering children's toys is something i personally really struggle with, here's why :

- i have 3 children and so i'm always convinced that the next one will play with the toys as they get older;
- because in the holidays things do get dragged out and used (although i am wondering whether 15 mins is a good enough reason to hang onto a whole room full...!)
- because if I take items out when the children are here they start relaying stories and memories which is then closely followed by Oscar Award Winning dramatics providing 101 reasons to put each item back in the box; and
- It's hard to...

You have had ENOUGH of running around like a headless chicken in December, worrying about everyone else, squeezing in the planning, buying and prepping in tiny tiny pockets of winter time all for one day - Christmas Day! 

You are looking for the solution to getting organised for Christmas and finally enjoying the festivities along with everyone else and We have it - Here at Stress Less Christmas! 

The 1 Easy Step to getting it all done is really simple.... 
SPREAD IT OUT !!! 

Honestly it's as simple as that!

We are not talking about starting in January and thinking about Christmas all year round (although there are benefits to that - but that's completely another blog topic) We are talking about October through to December, in this short space of time, it really is possible to spread out your key tasks which include:

• preparing your spaces by decluttering,
• planning your meals
• shopping for gifts
• decorating
• preparing food 
  and a few more essential tasks

It...

It's that time of year again where not only do you have to think of what to buy as a gift for your children but everyone else in the family is asking you the same questions...!

What is Elfy into? What does little Elfy want for Christmas ?

If you are anything like me, beyond one main gift I have no idea !  In comes our fast track, Stress Less way to make sure you are prepared with an answer, the bonus is that your children get things that they truly want.

Here is what you need to do ....

Step 1 - Get some paper, a pen and a clip board - if you are a member of the Stress Less Christmas Programme, you can print off the festive looking Children's Wishlist found in your online portal or our private FB group. 

Step 2 - Set aside a couple of hours to visit a toy shop - for older children either visit a shopping centre/outlet or set some time aside for internet browsing. 

Step 3 - Let them examine everything and write down everything that they would like - It is...

When getting ready for Christmas you may well be thinking that gifts, turkey, trees and fairylights are the most important things to get organised yet in our Stress Less Christmas Programme, 'Decluttering' is a theme that runs throughout October and is a crucial first step to feeling and being more oganised leading up to Christmas.  

Here are 3 benefits of decluttering and why we like to focus on the key areas of the home that are linked to your Christmas celebrations. 

1  - It Frees Up Space

This is probably the most obvious reason and one to keep in mind EVERY time you open a drawer, put those toys away or even serve yourself that super tasty Baileys Chocolate Icecream .... 

Christmas is a time when there is extra everything entering our home and with the New Year straight after it's also the perfect time to have a motto of 'out with the old and in with the new'.

So our advice .... 
- Go through your drawers and boxes - be...