Christmas Budget Planner: A Page per Kid
$5
I want Christmas to feel fair for every kid, and I don't want to spend January paying it off.
This planner is built for exactly that. Pick one number you can pay in cash, give every dollar a job, and plan each child's gifts on their own page. The spreadsheet does the math, compares your kids side by side, and builds a savings plan from your next payday until December 24.
How it works
1. Type your total Christmas budget, what you've already saved, and how often you're paid.
2. Split the budget: kids' gifts, stockings, everyone else, food & hosting, wrapping.
3. Add up to 6 kids. Split their budget evenly or set custom amounts.
4. On each kid's page, write their wish list, then plan gifts by category (want, need, wear, read, experience) and check off bought and wrapped.
5. The Fairness tab and Dashboard show who's at what, and what's left, at a glance.
What's inside
- Spreadsheet (Google Sheets + Excel): Setup, Dashboard (days until Christmas, budget vs. planned vs. spent, a bar for every category and kid), a Kid tab for each of up to 6 kids, Fairness, Everyone Else (teachers, family, Secret Santa), Stockings (with per-kid totals), Food & Hosting, a payday-by-payday Savings Plan, and a Gift Tracker for receipts and return deadlines. Real formulas, so you never do the math.
- Two copies: one filled in for a sample family so you can see how it works, and one blank.
- 22-page printable planner (undated, US Letter): budget overview, savings countdown, kid page (example and blank, so you can print one per child), a wish list page kids fill in themselves, want / need / wear / read / do grid, fairness check, stocking list, everyone-else list, December calendar, 25 low-cost countdown activity ideas, holiday meal plan, grocery list, gift wrap tracker, receipts & returns, low-cost gift ideas, experience coupons, how to talk to kids about a smaller Christmas, January reflection and notes.
- Light-ink version of the printable, with white backgrounds and thin lines.
- Start Here guide: how to open the file in Google Sheets or Excel, and a quick tour.
Good to know
- Works with weekly, every 2 weeks, twice a month and monthly pay.
- Free Google Sheets works. No Excel needed.
- Reusable: change the year on Setup next year. The printable pages are undated.
- It doesn't connect to your bank. You type your own numbers, so your information stays with you.
Because this is a digital download, all sales are final, but message me if you have any trouble with your files.