Christmas Gift Tracker Spreadsheet

About this template

This Christmas gift tracker keeps every gift, card and Christmas expense in one file, counted down to 25 December. It is for whoever runs Christmas in the household and wants to know, in the second week of December, which gifts still have to be posted, what is left in the budget and when the turkey goes in.

Please read: This is a tracker tool only, not financial, tax, legal, medical or any other professional advice or advisory service. It records and calculates what you enter; you are solely responsible for checking all figures, rates, dates and results and for every decision you make. By purchasing, downloading or using it, you accept these terms (your statutory consumer rights are not affected).

The dashboard

This Christmas planner puts Christmas on one printed page in pine green, cranberry and gold. Nothing on it is typed; it fills itself from the other tabs.

• Pick Everyone or one person, and the budget, spending, gifts and deadlines follow
• Six cards: days to Christmas Day, budget, spent, left to spend, gifts sorted and cards sent
• Where every gift is, with all six statuses counted
• Budget per person, with any overspend shown in red and the amount written out
• Where the Christmas money goes, the next deadlines with days left, and the cooking plan, this week's jobs and Secret Santa

A date on every gift

As a holiday gift planner, it gives each gift the day it is needed by, not just Christmas Day. Posted, sent by courier, ordered online or handed over, each counts back from 25 December by its own number of days, or from the last posting day you enter. Days left turns amber inside a week, shows "Late by 2 days" once passed, and stops counting when the gift is given.

• Six honest statuses: Idea, Decided, Ordered, Arrived, Wrapped and Given
• Last year remembered: the People tab shows what each person got, and the gift list warns you before you repeat a gift

Secret Santa and the dinner

• A fair Secret Santa draw for up to 30 names. Nobody draws themselves or a partner they cannot draw, the same draw number always gives the same result, and there is a slip to cut out for each person.
• The Christmas Day dinner worked backward: enter the dinner time and each dish's cooking and resting minutes, and the timeline shows when everything goes in

Twelve connected tabs

• Gift List: 150 gifts with who, what, where from, budget, spent, status, delivery and tracking number
• People: 60 people with a budget each, sizes, likes, wish list and last year's gifts
• Christmas Budget: a plan for every area and a spending log, with over-plan flagged
• Cards: 150 households with addresses, card or e-card, sent and received
• Christmas Day: guests and dietary needs, the menu, the cooking timeline and a shopping list
• December Plan, House and Hosting, and a December Calendar from late November to New Year, filled in for you

After 25 December the file moves on to next Christmas by itself, or you can type the year you want.

Works with

• Microsoft Excel 2016 or newer, on Mac or Windows
• Google Sheets with a free Google account. The Google Sheets version has smaller tables (80 gifts, 40 people, 80 cards) so it stays quick in a browser, and it is a real workbook you take a copy of, not a PDF with a link in it.
• No dynamic arrays, no macros and no add-ins. No Microsoft 365 subscription is required.

What you download

• The Excel workbook filled with a worked example: a household part-way through December with seventeen people, twenty-five gifts, forty cards and a Secret Santa of eight
• The same workbook, blank and ready for yours
• The instruction guide, with one-click links to the Google Sheets versions (filled and blank)
• The terms of use as a PDF

Your files are ready to download as soon as payment clears. Questions before or after you buy? Use our contact page and we will help.

Frequently asked questions

Does it work in Excel or Google Sheets?

Both. The Excel workbook runs on Excel 2016 or newer on Mac or Windows, and the instruction guide has one-click links to the Google Sheets versions. The Sheets version has smaller tables so it stays quick in a browser.

How does it know when a gift needs to be sent?

Each gift counts back from 25 December by its delivery method, or from the last posting day you enter. Days left turns amber inside a week and shows as late once it passes.

Can it run our Secret Santa?

Yes. It draws up to 30 names fairly, so nobody gets themselves or a partner they should not draw, and it makes a slip to cut out for each person.

Will it stop me buying the same gift twice?

Yes. Keep last year's gifts on the list and the gift list warns you if you put the same gift down for the same person again.

Can I use it again next year?

Yes. After 25 December it moves on to next Christmas by itself, or you can type the year you want.