Have you written your Christmas list yet?

On Wednesday, we hit the three month countdown to the big day - yep, the C word. Christmas. I know some of you will cringe at the mention of the word whilst others will be filled with glee. I'm firmly in the second camp and have already completed just over half of our Christmas present shopping in the past few days. You may think I'm potty, feel panicked at the thought or think it's far too soon to start thinking about decking the halls, but for me, organisation is key. After all, there's only three pay days before Christmas including this month's one, and when your on SMP, you know where ever penny needs to go.

I love gift giving and I love putting a lot of thought and personal touches into the presents I buy and our family celebrations. Last year, I was super organised as I had bump in tow and so I started early so I knew everything was sorted and if I become more tired in the lead up to December 25th, it wouldn't matter.

The Boots 3 for 2 gift event is always fantastic in my opinion and this year's guide is out this week in some stores apparently (I'm yet to track my copy down!). There's always a fantastic range of gift ideas, for foodies, homebodies, beauty queens, the men in your life and so on, and if you plan your shopping well, you can get even more benefits. Last year, Boots ran points events in store where on one day you could receive double points or a points bonus if you spent over £50. I managed to shop on both occasions and the points I received meant I could buy the final lot of presents for free. Together with the 3 for 2 deal, you can really buy some lovely gifts for people whilst sticking to your budget.

This year, my Christmas shopping started so early simply as I saw a couple of things that were absolutely perfect for some people we know. I thought it was unlikely that in a couple of months time they would still be around so I snapped them up. It was then a kind of snowball effect, as an idea would pop in my head and I'd start researching online to see what I could find.

I've really fallen in love with Not On The High Street this year. It's got an amazing, vast range of goodies made by some very talented people and independent businesses and a lot of it you really can not find on the high street. I love making things personal so this website is brilliant as so many of the gift ideas can be personalised - it just shows you've not only thought of something they would like but you've made it extra special, just for them.

When Ethan was born, I had this special necklace made, I bought gifts for Ste's first Father's Day via NOTHS and now a lot of our Christmas presents have been sourced from here too. We also just bought my father-in-law some personalised cufflinks, featuring vintage maps of his home town and Birmingham, as a gift for his birthday this week. He's the hardest person in the world to buy for so I was really pleased when I came across these.

I obviously can't share any of our Christmas shopping with you here but trust me, you can find inspiration for anyone on Not On The High Street!

Tomorrow, I'm going to share a few of my ideas on how you can add a personal touch to your celebrations and gift giving this Christmas. I am a big believer in the mantra 'it's the thought that counts' as opposed to how much you spend so with a little time, you can make your presents extra special so your friends and family know how special they are to you.