We all know that shopping for friends and family during the holiday season can be stressful. To help you determine what to buy, I’ve shared with you some fun gift ideas for guys, for women, for the hostess, under $30, as well as some of my personal favorites. But we all know that finding the perfect present is just the first step. What’s more difficult is organizing your spending, keeping track of shipped packages, and ensuring you have everyone account for.
Since 2014, I’ve used the same Google spreadsheet to organize my shopping lists. I would have shared this earlier, but I wanted to be 100% sure that the sheet was useful. I’ve perfected it a bit over the past three holiday seasons, and now I can’t live without it. I’m seriously crazy about it. In fact, if Bryan shops without me, I nag him to send me all the details so I can update the grid ASAP.
What it tracks:
Each person on your shopping list has his/her own column in this spreadsheet. Details about the items you purchased are on the rows. The template is set up so you can enter up to five people and three items per person, but you can certainly add more if needed. For each person, you’ll be able to track:
- Item name
- Store
- Price
- Purchased online or in-store
- Tracking #
- Received?
- Total $ spent for each person
- Total $ spent for entire holiday season
To make it even easier for you, I’ve already inserted the codes in the grid to sum up the total amounts spent. All you have to do is plug in the price of each item and the total for each person and the entire holiday season will populate for you.
I put in some hypothetical info into the grid, and took a screenshot for you below.
How to use:
Before you do anything, please make sure to follow these instructions. If you have any issues, reach out to me either in the comments below or by email at nicole@nicoleraudonis.com.
- Open the Google Spreadsheet – DO NOT EDIT.
- Go to the top menu and select “File” -> “Make a Copy”
- Rename it if you wish, and save to your personal Google Drive folder.
- The file will open in a new window. This is the version you can edit.
I hope this spreadsheet serves you well. It has been my lifeline during the holiday season these past few years, and I don’t know what I ever did without it.
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I’ve been using a spreadsheet for a few years now to track gifts but yours is much cleaner/nicer and easier to use! Thanks for sharing! I also like to use an extra tab in the spreadsheet to keep track of gift ideas throughout the year; when someone mentions something they want or an idea pops into my head, it goes into the spreadsheet.
That’s a great idea, Jess! I always struggle right around the holidays for what to buy. I should start keeping a running list!
This is a great idea! I never thought about using a spreadsheet to organize gifts, but this is so smart!
Thanks! It keeps everything in order, for sure! I’ve been using it for years now.