Holiday Meal Planner

Host Thanksgiving, Christmas dinner or any holiday party without the last-minute scramble. Type your event date, serve time, guest count and budget once, and the Holiday Meal & Party Planner keeps everything in step: servings for every dish follow the number of guests who said yes, prep dates follow your event date, and your cooking timeline turns "minutes before serving" into real clock times. The dashboard shows the countdown, who's coming, which dishes still need a cook, what you've spent and what's next in the kitchen. WHAT'S INCLUDED • Dashboard: days to go, guests attending, dishes assigned, spent, budget left and budget used • Progress bars for shopping, dishes assigned and budget, plus a "next up" preview of your cooking timeline • Menu planner (40 dishes): course dropdown, servings per guest, servings needed (automatic), who's making it, prep day, prep date (automatic), recipe link or source, notes • Shopping list (150 items): aisle dropdown, quantity, estimated and actual cost, bought dropdown and store, with a budget box and an estimated vs. actual by aisle chart • Cooking timeline (50 tasks): minutes before serving becomes a clock time from your serve time; who, where (oven, stovetop...) and done • Guest list (60 rows): party size, RSVP, dietary needs dropdown, bringing a dish and what they're bringing, with dietary counts • Setup tab with your own courses, store aisles, dietary needs and prep days, plus a Start Here guide • Two files: a blank planner and a filled-in Thanksgiving example WORKS WITH • Microsoft Excel (2010 or later, Windows and Mac, and Excel online) • Google Sheets (free): upload the file to Google Drive and open it with Google Sheets HOW IT WORKS 1. Purchase and download instantly from your Etsy Purchases page. 2. Open the file in Excel, or upload it to Google Drive and open it in Google Sheets. 3. Fill in the Setup tab, then add guests, dishes, groceries and cooking tasks as you plan. PLEASE NOTE • This is a digital download. No physical item will be shipped. • Amounts are in US dollars ($). Currency formatting can be changed in your spreadsheet app. • Works for any gathering: Thanksgiving, Friendsgiving, Christmas, Easter, birthdays or a potluck. • Cooking times in the example are a sample plan, not food-safety guidance. Follow your recipe. • For personal use. Please don't resell or share the file. How we make it: Every Penny & Pencil template and worksheet is designed in-house with AI-assisted tools, then each page, formula and answer key is checked and tested before it is listed. Questions? Send us a message. We usually reply within a day.