Christmas is less than 11 months away. (I can hear you groaning from here: She's on that already?????!!!!)

But even though there's plenty of time before you really have to do any serious Christmas preparations, there are some things that you can and should do now:

• Continue updating your Christmas card list. You may need to correct addresses, add some folks, and delete others. If any cards were returned to you, either update the address or delete the recipient.
• If you had cards and wrapping materials left over, be sure to put them somewhere where you'll be able to find them in the fall.
• In your holiday planning file (you have one, right?), make a list of things that worked, things that didn't, decorations that need to be replaced, and things you want to do next year. There is no point in making the same old cookie that you hated this year – and I don't count on remembering.
• Now that December credit card bills are in, take a look at what you actually spent on Christmas and how that compared to what you had budgeted. Then look at what you are saving this year. You may need to either increase savings or decrease expenses. It's much easier to do either one when you start early.