Christmas gift budget spreadsheet

Holiday spending adds up fast because it is spread across many small purchases. Setting one total budget and tracking each gift against it is the simplest way to avoid a January surprise.

The Christmas Gift Budget Tracker starts with one total holiday budget. List everyone you are shopping for, and it tracks spent, remaining, gifts bought, wrapped or given, and which gifts went over budget. Gifts are grouped (Family, Friends, Work, Kids, Other, or your own groups), and decorations, food, travel, cards and parties get their own budgets. The dashboard shows days until Christmas and average cost per gift.

Works in Excel and Google Sheets.

What you get

You get two files, a blank template and a filled-in example, plus a Start Here guide. Open them in Microsoft Excel, or upload them to Google Drive and open them with Google Sheets (free). You type in the input cells; the formulas, totals and charts update themselves.

Tips

• Set the total first, then split it by person.
• Log gifts as you buy them, including shipping.
• Start in October to spread costs out.