Free Christmas Countdown Checklist 2026 (UK, Printable To-Do List)
Christmas Day 2026 is on a Friday. This free checklist takes the usual Christmas jobs and dates each one back from the big day, so you always know what to do this week and nothing gets left to Christmas Eve. Print this page and stick it on the fridge, or tick things off on your phone.
It's the same countdown list that's built into our Christmas Planner Spreadsheet, written out here with the 2026 dates filled in.
Catch-up: do these now
These are best done by late October, so if you're starting in early November, do them this week.
- ☐ Set your Christmas budget and list everyone you're buying for
- ☐ Start a gift ideas list for each person
- ☐ Book a Christmas food delivery or click-and-collect slot (popular slots go early)
November
- ☐ Thu 5 Nov – Order personalised gifts and photo calendars
- ☐ Sat 7 Nov – Book the panto, grotto or any Christmas days out
- ☐ Tue 10 Nov – Put Christmas party dates in the diary
- ☐ Fri 13 Nov – Buy Christmas cards and stamps
- ☐ Sun 15 Nov – Order the turkey or main joint
- ☐ Tue 17 Nov – Decide who's hosting and where everyone sleeps
- ☐ Thu 19 Nov – Buy gifts for anyone you're posting abroad
- ☐ Fri 20 Nov – Make or buy the Christmas cake
- ☐ Wed 25 Nov – Post international cards and parcels
- ☐ Fri 27 Nov – Get the decorations down from the loft and check the lights work
- ☐ Sun 29 Nov – Buy advent calendars (Advent calendars start on 1 December)
Early December
- ☐ Fri 4 Dec – Put up the tree and decorations
- ☐ Sat 5 Dec – Write Christmas cards
- ☐ Sat 5 Dec – Buy wrapping paper, tags and sticky tape
- ☐ Mon 7 Dec – Plan the Christmas Day menu
- ☐ Wed 9 Dec – Order any remaining online gifts (allow extra time for delivery delays)
- ☐ Sun 13 Dec – Post UK cards and parcels (check your carrier's last posting dates)
- ☐ Sun 13 Dec – Check everyone's dietary needs
- ☐ Tue 15 Dec – Wrap gifts as they arrive
- ☐ Thu 17 Dec – Buy batteries for toys
- ☐ Thu 17 Dec – Place the Christmas food order
Christmas week
- ☐ Sat 19 Dec – Clean the oven
- ☐ Sun 20 Dec – Clear freezer space for the leftovers
- ☐ Mon 21 Dec – Collect the turkey, or start defrosting a frozen one in the fridge (big birds can take 3 to 4 days, so check the pack)
- ☐ Tue 22 Dec – Buy fresh veg
- ☐ Tue 22 Dec – Make the gravy and chill or freeze it
- ☐ Wed 23 Dec – Wrap the last gifts
- ☐ Thu 24 Dec – Prep the veg and stuffing
- ☐ Thu 24 Dec – Lay the table and set out the crackers
- ☐ Thu 24 Dec – Set phone alarms for each dish on Christmas Day
After Christmas
- ☐ Mon 28 Dec – Write thank-you notes
- ☐ Wed 6 Jan – Take the decorations down (Twelfth Night is traditionally 5 or 6 January)
A simple Christmas budget in eight lines
Most overspending happens in the categories people forget. Before you buy anything, split your total budget across these eight headings and keep a running total for each:
- Gifts
- Food and drink
- Decorations
- Cards and postage
- Wrapping
- Parties and days out
- Travel
- Charity and other
A good rule of thumb is to set a per-person gift budget first, add it up, and only then see what's left for everything else. If the total is too high, trim the gift budgets rather than hoping the rest will be cheap.
How to use this checklist
- Print it: use your browser's print option. The tick boxes print as empty squares.
- Share the jobs: put a name next to each line so it's clear who's doing what.
- Running late? Don't panic. Do the catch-up jobs first, then pick up wherever today's date falls.
- Hosting a big crowd? Move the food jobs a few days earlier, as delivery slots and turkeys go fast.
Want it to do the maths for you?
The Christmas Planner Spreadsheet has this countdown built in, with Done, Overdue and This week shown for you, plus a gift tracker for up to 50 people, a budget that adds itself up, a card list, a food shop list and a Christmas dinner timer. Works in Google Sheets and Excel, in £ and $ versions, and you can reuse it next year.