Happy Friday, Makeup Moxies! Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving and welcome to Part One of the Merry Moxie Holiday Guide!

If the weather where you are is as chilly as it is here (yes, it does get “cold” in Vegas ;), I hope you’ve brought along your favorite hot drink to enjoy as we get started on our plan for a happy, low-stress (or as low-stress as possible :) holiday season.

Designed to give you a stress-free jumpstart on the holiday season, these first installments of the Holiday Guide are a fun alternative to braving the Black Friday Sales.

If you’re going out shopping today, consider this the online supplement to your After Thanksgiving bargain-hunting expedition ;)

As promised, I now bring you Part One of Merry Moxie’s Holiday Guide:

Step 1: Start Planning. Though my motto when it comes to shopping is, generally, CHARGE! (and I mean that in every sense of the word ;), I’m a big believer in well-planned holiday shopping.

For the next step of this guide, you’ll need to have a pen and paper handy. I highly recommend getting yourself a notebook to keep all your holiday planning in one place. In addition to the lists that we make today, there will be a couple of other important Merry Moxie Holiday Guide tricks that will require you to put your ideas in writing.

Don’t worry, it’s nothing hard, you don’t have to share it with anyone, and it will definitely make a difference in maximizing fun and minimizing stress during the holiday season.

Step 2: Time for Some Self-Indulgent Multi-tasking. Remember how I asked you to have your favorite face mask ready when you come to check out the Merry Moxie Holiday Guide? This is where it comes in.

I’m a true believer in the principle that you really have to love and care for yourself in order to truly and effectively love and care for others.

So do something good for yourself before we get started plotting the holiday surprises that are in store for our fabu friends and family.

Seriously, go and slather on that face mask. As soon as you’ve got that done, rinse your hands, and then come back and join me. Go ahead, I’ll be here when you get back ;)

Step 3: List Time! Got your face mask on? Got your pen and notebook? Good, let’s get started…

Figure Out How Much You’re Going to Spend
One of the single biggest reasons for holiday stress is, unfortunately, money. So unless you’ve decided that you’ll be dropping droves of $62,000 Guerlain KissKiss Lipsticks from your 24k-gold-plated private helicopter this Christmas, it’s super important that you come up with a holiday budget.

Figure out the exact dollar amount that you can afford to spend on holiday gifts this year and, whatever you do it, stick to it!

Make a List of Gift-Getters
Another major holiday stressor? Last minute gifts. Whether you’ve got a $1 million budget or a $100 budget, you’ll still feel some major holiday crush if you go holiday shopping without a plan and then realize on Christmas Eve that you haven’t gotten a gift for your beloved hair stylist (shame on you) or for your mother’s twice-removed, third cousin Mildred who has decided to randomly drop by for Christmas this year (eh, it happens ;)

This is why it’s extremely important to create a list of all the people you’ll be giving gifts to. List your most important gift-getters first — Spouse/Significant Other, Mom, Dad, siblings, best friends, etc.

Once you’ve got all your VIP’s, draw a line and start listing everyone else who you think should be getting gifts. Create a list that is as complete as possible. Depending on your budget and circumstances, you can always shorten this list later.

Step 4: Create Your Budget & Do a Reality Check. Using the list that you just created in Step 3 and the dollar amount that you set for your holiday shopping budget, start figuring out how much you want to spend on everyone.

Don’t Forget the Extra Expenses
When listing all the people you need to shop for, don’t forget to also include other gift-giving “expenses” like gift wrap, greeting cards, and postage (both for the cards and for gifts that need to be mailed).

Spreading Your Budget Too Thin?
After you figure out how much you want to spend on the VIP’s on your list, how does your budget look? If it looks like your budget won’t cover everyone, there’s a few things you can do:

• Consider saving money by making your own gifts. Over the upcoming weeks, I’ll be sharing some special, do-it-yourself beauty gifts that are fun, pretty, and will save you some money.
• Review each person on your gift list and ask yourself, “Do I really need to get this person a gift? If you find that your budget is strained due to a very long list of potential giftee’s, this kind of reality check is crucial. For people you barely know, consider cutting them from the list or simply sending a card.

A Golden Rule For a Low-Stress Holiday
It’s extremely important that you stick to your budget. When you start shopping, you are bound to find “the perfect gift” that’s out of your price range. Resist the urge to justify an impulse-buy with the multitude of reasons that the little voice in the back of your mind has ready for you.

Have you ever bought a lavish gift, thinking, “It’s on my credit card, I’ll just tighten up my spending after Christmas.” or “It’s not THAT much more, I can afford to do this.”

Give into that little voice too many times and you’ll find yourself prematurely depleting your holiday budget, stressing out about money, and racking up unmanageable credit card bills. Don’t jeopardize your ability to fully enjoy the holidays by subjecting yourself to unncessary financial stress.

Just stick to the budget!

Step 5: Rinse, Moisturize, and Shop! If you’ve made your list and budget, then Congratulations, Makeup Moxies! You’ve just completed a big step towards having a more care-free holiday season!

Furthermore, you’ve done it with a face mask on. You’ve got a holiday shopping plan and tighter pores. Life is good.

Now remove the face mask, smooth on your moisturizer of choice, and move on to Merry Moxie’s Holiday Guide Part Two: Black Friday Beauty Online

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