What to put on your wishlist now that autumn is here

The first cold morning of the year has a way of showing up what is missing. The jacket that was fine in April is thin now, the slippers have a hole, and the wishlist you shared for your birthday in June still has a beach towel on it.

Autumn is the right moment to fix that. A list you refresh in September is ready when the first relative asks what you want for Christmas, and that question comes earlier every year.

Take the summer off the list first

Start by removing things. Anything you wanted for the holiday you have already had, the sandals, the cooler bag, the second swimsuit, comes off or moves to next year. A list with nine items you still want beats a list with twenty where half are out of season. People who open it should be able to pick something in a minute.

Then check the prices. A product that cost 40 in spring may be gone or replaced by a new model. Paste the link again and Happy Giftlist fetches the current name, photo and price.

What belongs on an autumn list

Warm things, mostly, and things for evenings indoors. Be specific about them. "A warm jumper" gets you a jumper in the wrong size and a colour you would never have picked; a link to the exact one does not.

• Wool socks that survive the washing machine. Falke Walkie or Smartwool, around 20 a pair, last for years; the three-pack from the supermarket does not.
• A cardigan or half-zip in merino from a brand whose sizing you know. Put the size in the description.
• An e-reader, if you read more once it gets dark. A Kobo Clara or a Kindle Paperwhite, both around 150; pick the Kobo if you buy books outside Amazon.
• Slippers with a proper sole, so you can take the bins out in them. Birkenstock Zermatt and Giesswein are the two that hold up.
• One large candle that burns for forty hours or more. It does more for a room than six tea lights.
• Hand cream and a lip balm. Boring, and the first thing you run out of once the heating goes on.

Skip the seasonal decorations. Pumpkin garlands and "hello autumn" cushions are cheap to buy and nobody wants to be the person who gave them. If you want the house to feel different, ask for a string of warm-white fairy lights and leave it at that.

Get the Christmas list out before the shops do

By late September the shops are already stacking chocolate and advent calendars, and the first "what do you want this year" message from a parent tends to land in October. Have an answer ready. A separate Christmas wish list, made now and shared by the end of October, gives everyone eight weeks to buy, and gives you eight weeks to note things you like without having to remember them.

Keep the autumn list and the Christmas list apart. The autumn list is for you and whoever asks in the meantime; the Christmas list is the one you send around. Sharing it in October also helps with reserving: relatives can reserve an item so nobody else buys it, and the earlier they do that, the fewer duplicates you unwrap.

If your family or office draws names, this is the month to run the draw. Everyone still has a free weekend in October. In December nobody has.

Mix the prices so anyone can use it

One list often serves two purposes in autumn: a birthday in October and Christmas in December. Cover both. A few things under 15 (the socks, the lip balm, a bag of good coffee beans), a middle band around 30 to 60, and one or two larger items such as the e-reader or a wool blanket from Klippan. Someone buying for a birthday picks from the small end; grandparents who like to give one proper gift take the blanket.

Add one thing you would never buy for yourself. A hardback of the book you keep meaning to read, or a year of the magazine you always pick up at the station. The socks you would have bought yourself anyway; the hardback is the kind of thing a wishlist exists for.

Then look at the list again in November and take off whatever you bought in the meantime. A list that still shows the jumper you already own sends someone to the shop for nothing. If you have not made one yet, create a wishlist now, put the socks on it and add the rest as the season goes.