We're about two weeks out from Thanksgiving in the United States, which means that if you want to avoid the rush and hassle of trying to shop, cook, and get everything prepared on the few days before Thanksgiving, it's time to think about it now. Here are a few things that you can do now that will make your life much easier on Thanksgiving Day.
- Test or repair your appliances now. Odds are that you've used your stove recently, but if there are any appliances that you know you'll need for the holiday meal that you haven't fired up recently, now's the time to do it. Our own Thorin Klosowski mentioned that his oven's ignition switch went out in the middle of cooking Thanksgiving dinner last year. Also, if you've been putting off an appliance repair, now's the time to spring for it. You don't want your appliances to break right when you need them most.
- Get the cookware/flatware out of storage. If Thanksgiving is at your place and you usually leave the roasting pan in the garage or the fine china in boxes in the basement, now's the time to go fish it out so you have it on-hand and ready to start cooking, or for when your guests show up.
- Plan your menu and buy non-perishables now. Grocery prices are only going up between now and the holidays. Consider what your Thanksgiving dinner is going to look like now, and then spend some time with your grocery store circular to find some bargains on what you can pick up early. Now is also a great time to buy wine for your holiday meal at a great price. You'll still have to buy perishables closer to cooking time, but it'll be a shorter, cheaper trip to the store.
- Set up remote access so you can get to your files when you're away from home. If Thanksgiving isn't at your place and you're planning to travel for the holidays, now is the time to set up an automated backup process for your computer and choose a file syncing service that works for you. You can leave home knowing your data is safely backed up, and in a place where you can get to it when you're not at home. If you need to get right to your computer, now's the time to set up a remote access solution so you can work from any location as though you were on your home PC.
- Get ready to fix your family's computer problems. Speaking of remote access, if you haven't taken the time to set up some kind of remote access solution so you can troubleshoot your family's computer remotely, now's the time to do it. If you need help with some of those common questions you know you'll get when you get there, check out our list of tips.
- Book your travel arrangements now. If you haven't done it already, it's still not too late to get a few bargains on your holiday travel plans, especially if you're booking now for travel closer to the end of the year.
With a little pre-planning now, you can make the holiday season go much more smoothly when it gets to crunch-time. Are you planning now for the holidays in any way, or are you going to take them as they come? Share your thoughts and holiday planning tips in the comments below.
Photo by Steve Bott.
You can reach Alan Henry, the author of this post, at alan@lifehacker.com, or better yet, follow him on Twitter or Google+.
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