We are t-minus 12 days and counting on the holidays, and no doubt you’re preparing your plans fr the holidays. Of course, at the top of most people’s lists is gift buying. It’s hard enough to figure out what people want, but it’s even harder keeping track of lists for all the people in your life & where to find it.

Luckily in the digital age it’s much easier to organize those lists based on the technology at our disposal. And at this time of year when schedules get full & time is at a premium, the more organized you are with your time, the more you can focus your time on more important thing. The Happiest Home offers fur great ways to keep your holiday shopping lists organized and tidy by using the technology at your fingertips:

1. Amazon Wish List

Amazon Wish Lists work much like wedding or baby registries: you add items you wish for, and then share the list with others who can purchase the items right from the list.

There are a couple of features I love about Amazon Wish Lists. One, you can add items from non-Amazon sites to your wish list (plugins for your browser make it super easy). Two, the registry-like feature makes it easier to see which items have been purchased so gift-givers are less likely to double up. You can also create as many separate lists as you want and can control the privacy settings behind the scenes.

2. Shared Document

printable, holiday gift listIf you are a spreadsheet lover (admit it: some people just ARE), you might like this idea. I create a simple spreadsheet each holiday season with our to-give gift list. It includes fields for cost (budget and actual) so we can keep an eye on our spending as we make our way through the list.

I share the spreadsheet with my husband via Google Drive or Dropbox (if you like this method, you could share a child’s wish list this way with grandparents and other relatives too). Having it accessible in “the cloud” also means it’s always handy on my smartphone when I’m out shopping and see something I want to add or update.

3. Evernote

Evernote is another clever way to share a list or a collection of ideas. (If you’re not familiar, Evernote is a popular cloud-based organizing app with a ton of really cool features, most which I personally haven’t made use of yet.)

Evernote works great if you use a smartphone a lot (it has desktop functionality, too, but I find it really useful for mobile list-making). It’s easy to create a new note, snap a photo, or bookmark a link, and it has a ton of really smart features like tags and search functionality that make it easy to find and organize your notes.

I like Evernote and have used it to keep track of holiday gift ideas, but use it very simply. I usually have one big running list of ideas and when I think of a gift idea to give (or when the one of the kids mentions something they’re coveting), I make a note of it.

4. Pinterest

Ever since Pinterest created “secret boards,” I’ve been using it to make a note of things I want (wait for it) for myself. Since most of the pins in my feed tend to be geared toward moms and women, it’s a great place to get inspired about gifts I’d like to receive. Pinning to a secret board is easy (here’s a tutorial), and this way I don’t draw a total blank when my husband or mom asks me what I’d like for Christmas.

Photo: Source