Christmas Budget Planner

Christmas is a cornucopia of celebrations, parties, gifts, travels, unlike any other holiday. All of that is predicated on the one thing, - spending. Spreadsheet123 offers you a simple template called Christmas Budget to track all your spending during this very merry, but at the same time the very financially taxing season. Having a well-defined Budget is an integral part of a successful Christmas. If you plan in advance, you and your loved ones will have splendid memories to cherish for the rest of the year. Typically we tend to buy a lot of gifts for family and friends. This template calculates the budget allocated to the actual cost of the items. The difference shows a shortfall or a surplus in your budget.

To give a clear understanding of the shortfall or surplus in the allocated budget the table displays the results along with a Down arrow and an Up arrow respectively.

How to use Christmas Budget Template

Christmas Budget is a single page template that can be used to monitor your spending during the holiday season. Enter the list of people for whom you wish to buy gifts. Allocate a separate budget for each individual. Enter the actual amount that was spent on the purchase. The table automatically populates the differential amount. On top of the sheet, the Christmas budget template displays the number of gifts purchased out of the total gifts that you planned to purchase.

You can also plan a budget for gift wrapping materials, which includes wrapping paper, ribbons, gift bags, gift bows, scotch tape, etc. The table calculates the difference between the allocated budget and the actual budget for each item separately. It also calculates the net difference in that particular category.

The table has been divided into several spending categories, for example:

• Gifts: list of people to whom you wish to give gifts on this Christmas, along with an allocated budget.
• Gift Wrapping Supplies: budget allocation for ribbons, gift wrappers, gift bags, etc.
• Postcards: sending postcards to friends would require a budget for printing, envelops, stamps, etc.
• Decoration: when it comes to Christmas, decorations are everywhere, starting right from decorating a Christmas tree, indoor and outdoor lights, ornaments, etc.
• Christmas Food & Drinks: the party aura is ubiquitous during Christmas. A budget for party food, drinks, eating out, etc. also needs to be set.

Once all the categories receive the data for the amount actually spent, the sheet automatically calculates the net actual amount available to be spent and the estimated additional amount required. The difference between both amounts gives surplus or shortfall. This one sheet for planning Christmas budget can undoubtedly save you from ceaseless stress, so plan ahead.

We recommend that you do not to change or delete the pre-defined formulas of the template, if you do, the entire template may be altered, as the various fields have interconnecting formulas and the results after such changes would lack accuracy.

Excel Function used in this template

• SUM(number1, [number2], [number3], [number4], ...)
• IF(logical_test, value_if_true, [value_if_false])