This year make your holiday shopping safe and organized. It may not even be Halloween yet but it’s never too early to start making your purchases – especially this year.

With health and safety and the top of everyone’s minds, shopping early will help you avoid major crowds. Online shopping is also sure to be popular this year, so in order to make sure your packages arrive on time – whether it’s from the store or to send to family and friends out of town – it’s important to make your purchases now.

Start by thinking of all the people you need to buy for. This way, as you come across things when you go out or browse online, you can start to keep track of gift ideas and how much items cost. Making a list and checking off items you purchase as you go will help you remember what you bought and who you bought for. Budget tracking is much easier this way too – by constantly updating your purchases and what you’re spending, you can make sure you don’t break the bank over the holidays.

While you’re shopping, it’s important to stay organized and methodical. Keep all the gifts you purchase in one area of your home. Designate a spare closet, a bin under your bed, or a rarely-used cupboard to make sure everything is kept together.

When possible, consider giving gifts that will limit contact or handling by multiple people. For example, consider having items shipped directly to your recipients. To make this even easier, try planning for gifts that won’t create clutter. Not only will it help your loved ones from accumulating items they don’t need, it will make giving gifts much easier and safer like sending gift certificates or unique subscriptions over email.

Holiday shopping requires starting early, creating a plan, and sticking to it. With snow already on the ground, it isn’t hard to get motivated to start your shopping early!