Christmas always sneaks up on me no matter how much I try to plan ahead. This year I am determined to get all my shopping done early so there is no stress to take away from the joy of the season. To stay organized, I use these holiday event and gift planning sheets. I separate each Christmas (or holiday that you celebrate) event and make detailed notes about what I need to shop for and bring using these printables. I hope you find this Christmas gift organizer sheet as useful as I do.
I print out one sheet per holiday gathering or per family (if shipping gifts). Then I fill out the information in the top section. On the “to bring” line I write down the food I am supposed to bring and any other items that aren’t gifts. For example, I note if it is an ugly sweater party or if I need to bring a pack ‘n play for my baby to nap in.
Name
I use one line per person when filling out the Christmas gift planner.
Budget/Spent
I like to write down the amount of money I prefer not to go over for each person before I do any shopping. It is easy to overspend during the holidays, especially on gifts. Some of our family gift exchanges already have set budgets which helps a lot. Don’t forget to factor in shipping!
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After I purchase the gift(s) for the person, I write down the actual amount I spent so I can keep track of my total holiday budget. If I overspent on one person I try to see if there is another person whom I can spend less than what I budgeted for.
Ideas
Gift-giving stresses me out. I don’t enjoy shopping to begin with. To shop for someone else and choose an item they’ll like (and select the correct size) can be a nightmare. I am very much a person who prefers to get ideas from the gift recipient and select amongst those ideas.
In the ideas section, I write down any gift ideas I am able to get from the friend or family member plus any ideas I think of myself.
If you too struggle with gift ideas, follow me on Instagram (@planningforkeeps) and check out my “gift guides” highlight. Otherwise, one of my favorite gifts to both give and receive is experience gifts.
Read More: Experience Gift Ideas
Final
Once I have purchased (or made) the gift or gifts, I write down the item(s) in the “final” section so I can remember exactly what gifts go with each person. Also, this way I don’t forget to wrap or pack anything.
Wrapped
Once I wrap all the gifts for a specific person I put a checkmark in the “wrapped” section.
Shipped/Packed
Lastly, I make a checkmark in the “shipped/packed” column after I have either shipped the gifts to the recipient or packed them in our car.
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