holiday cleaning

I am on the email newsletter list for Living on A Dime. I don't think I've actually ever been to her website, but I thoroughly enjoy the (frugal) tips and recipes that she sends out weekly. She's got several ebooks that look fantastic, although I've not purchased any.
Anyways, since I wrote about breaking up my cleaning into 15 minutes per day chunks (and having so-so results... I'm not sure I actually like that method. Weird, I know) and am still tackling my fall cleaning list, this was a great prompt to remind me of a few things.

I'll copy and paste the article here for yall. Maybe it'll inspire you to tackle some early preholiday-cleaning.

Holiday Cleaning - Preparing Now For The Holidays

Halloween is over, which means it is now officially time to kick it
into gear to get ready for the holidays and to get your house ready
for company. It really helps to get your house in order now because
if unexpected company comes you won't get caught off guard. Then
you can concentrate on baking, finding gifts and organizing
activities without having to worry about deep cleaning your house
again until after the New Year.

Hopefully by now you have been inspired to start getting things
done a little at a time so this won't be too big of a job. Here are
a few things to work on:

* Get your closets in order. Put summer clothes away and take
winter clothes out, tossing as you go.

* Don't forget your linen closets. Get your guest towels, sheets
and extra blankets aired out and put the linens in a handy spot so
they are easy to grab when you need them.

* If you have a guest room, get it cleaned and prepare everything
for your first guests.

* Get your holiday linens prepared. Wash them if necessary and make
sure they're ready to go.

* Hopefully you have cleaned your pantry. Now you need to make sure
it is stocked with everything you need for your holiday recipes,
for some quick and easy to fix snacks and dinners for unexpected
company or food to take to social events.

* Make sure your fridge and freezer are in order. The refrigerator
and freezer are going to work overtime for you over the next couple
of months so make sure they're cleaned, organized and prepared.

* I don't worry about cleaning my oven at this time. I use it so
much for baking that it's silly for me to clean it right before
having a baking fest. I usually wait and give it a good cleaning
after the holidays. If it's really bad or you have company coming
and it looks awful you may want to go ahead and clean it anyway.

* This week and next week is the time to do any deep cleaning that
you don't want to have to mess with again until after the
holidays-- things like washing your windows, deep cleaning rugs and
carpets and dusting mirrors, picture frames, lampshades or ceiling
fans.

If you have been keeping up with your cleaning you may not have to
do any of these. Basically just clean your house enough for
company. Then you'll know it's done and you will be prepared for
the unexpected.

Part of the stress that comes at the holidays is the result of not
being prepared, especially for the unexpected things that always
seem to come up. Think of it like being prepared for a disaster. If
I have a wood burning stove, firewood, lots of candles, blankets
and food prepared, I am not too stressed if we lose power from an
ice storm. If I wasn't at all prepared, I would be in a total panic
if an ice storm hit.

If you are prepared, you have something you can whip up for company
in just a few minutes or if the kids need treats for school, you
have dough frozen and ready to be baked in the freezer. I'm not
saying that I have everything prepared like Martha Stewart but I do
try to have everything together enough so that I'm reasonably
prepared for the unexpected. My idea of the perfect woman is a
cross between Martha Stewart and Erma Bombeck! Some days I am more
one than the other and on other days I totally miss the mark, but
that's okay, because I tried. :-)

      -Jill