Welcome to Gifts and Giving Week! It's the time we focus on gift lists, gift buying and gift wrapping.

A recent poll at our site showed that gift-buying wins out as the "biggest holiday organization challenge". During Gifts and Giving Week, we'll give you the tools to get on top of the gift list. Hint: more lists!

When planning for the holiday season, why try to wing it, on the fly? 

Making lists on the go often finds them scattered in your wake, never to be found again.

To stay centered as you plan the holidays and get into the seasonal swing in comfort, find a place in your home to create an activity center devoted to Christmas planning. 

A dedicated spot to make gift lists lists and track menus keeps holiday planning on track.

Christmas is coming, holiday cards and letters fill the mailbox--and it's time to write your family's annual Christmas letter. 

Want your letter to stand out from the crowd? Looking for ways to spice up the same-old, same-old Christmas greeting?  Try these seven tips for a sparkling holiday letter.

Start off on a positive note

It's a trend you can count on! Roughly 95% of holiday letters begin with a sentence like this: "I can't believe the year has come and gone so quickly!" While we all feel this sentiment, it's not the happiest way to begin a holiday letter.

For many families, Christmas comes not once a year, but lingers on for months! Credit card bills arrive shortly after season’s end, not to be paid off until the following summer. Nearly two-thirds of American families don't know the true cost of their own Christmas celebration--and if they did, they'd be shocked. That much ... for a single day?

Fight the seasonal spending spree with the financial tool of choice: a Christmas budget. Try these ideas to create--and keep!--a holiday budget to save money on Christmas.

Every family has one: a gift-giver of extraordinary flair and creativity. Year after year, this paragon finds just the right gift, large or small, for every friend and relation, and all without breaking the bank. 

Her “just because” offerings are tiny jewels, she’s hip to the latest teen trends—and she never, ever hears the double-barbed response, “Oh, you shouldn't have--you really shouldn’t have!”

What’s her secret? A master gift list.

What do you really want for Christmas? Our ideas may differ in the details, but most of us want much the same thing: a seasonal celebration focused on faith, family and friends. 

We want the excitement of the season without the disruption that too often comes with it. We want to draw closer to those around us, not to be thrust apart by hectic schedules. We want to enjoy as well as to prepare, and to keep the Christmas season in a manner that is joyous and spiritually centered. 

Will you follow the Christmas Countdown this year? Beginning Sunday, October 24, we'll prepare for the holiday season with daily messages, weekly assignments, encouragement and fun. This six-week get-organized program will take you to the start of the holiday season, prepared and ready for Christmas.

Your road map begins with the Countdown calendar. Setting out each week's focus, it'll keep you motivated and on track to an organized Christmas as we work the Countdown together.