Life coach and single mom Sarah Halsey has always made the most of what she has. As a single mother to three young adult children she’s learned to efficiently take good care of her family, home, and environment. Halsey shares that one of her favorite ways to plan for the holidays is to borrow the Earth Day slogan:

Reduce, Recycle, Reuse!

Reduce: Reduce all unnecessary gatherings. Choose only those that encourage and support your most important people. Maybe you need to make a list of the people in your life to remind you of your priorities. When invitations start coming in, and you start feeling obligated and stressed, learn to say “no.” Reduce the drama, reduce the exhausting schedules, reduce wasted time you would prefer to put on your own personal favorite people. Saying no nicely can be a beautiful gift.

Recycle: Recycle your old gift bags and paper — just add some holiday tags, or some inexpensive stamps and remind yourself that no one cares much about the outside but the treasures within. Recycle recipes: don’t get caught up in the stress of having the newest, most interesting holiday recipes. Take a look at what worked, tweak them, and serve them happily knowing they are favorites and they didn’t take your valuable energy trying to be Martha Stewart.

Reuse: Don’t feel the pressure to go out and get the newest and shiniest Christmas decorations. Last year’s are just fine. There is no Christmas police to fine you for reusing the decorations from previous holidays. Just move them around, find ways to be creative and avoid the urge to hit pre- and post-Christmas sales just so you can have the big, shiny, blinking Christmas decorations that EVERYONE else has.

And finally, reuse your favorite friends. I say that because my most favorite thing of all is re-visiting the same old people; those same relationships that you can “love the stuffing out of” make the holidays the kind of memories it’s all about.