A dear lady, who is with the Lord, now, used to be famous at Covington Bible  Church for leaving her Christmas tree up all year. The basement of her house was a large open room. She used it for entertaining, including Christmas parties, so, to save time and trouble, she simply left the tree up all year. You have likely noticed bedraggled Christmas lights still "adorning" a house in the middle of summer. For other folk, though, it is Christmas all year round, not because of neglect, rather it is the opposite--an almost obsessive focus on the holiday. I've met some folk for whom you could remove the "almost."
There is nothing wrong with planning, and shopping early--sometimes almost twelve months early--can certainly save money, but at some point all that planning and saving and organizing can become Christmas-itis. The main symptom of this ailment is an obsessive quest for thePERFECT CHRISTMAS. The problem is, or "one problem is," many of the elements that make up the perfect Christmas are beyond our control. For instance, the perfect Christmas--just ask Bing Crosby--is white. Unless you have access to snow machines that is simply beyond your control. In the area where I live there is an over 80% chance you'll be disappointed. And if you think the weather is  hard to control, just try working with Aunt Mildred, or Cousin Eddie. Christmas trees and turkeys get dry, babies get wet, lights burn out, and flu is no respecter of the calendar.
CHILL!
Likely if you take time to think about it, a lot of what takes up your time and money in the quest for the perfect Christmas, or even a less disastrous than last year Christmas, really doesn't matter all that much. It may sound like the motto of "Slackers-R-Us," but one way of being pleased with the outcome is to lower your expectations. Be humble enough to realize that much of what you obsess about is beyond your control.
CHILL!
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