A gift planner laid out as a table: one row per person, columns for who it is for, the idea and the budget, then two tick boxes headed bought and wrapped. At the top there is a field for what you mean to spend altogether, and at the foot a total spent line. Those two numbers sitting on the same sheet are what makes this version useful.
The budget column comes first
The subtitle on the sheet says to fill the budget column in before anything else, and that is not decoration. Writing a figure against each name before you start looking is the only reliable way to keep the total near the number at the top of the page.
The total spent line at the foot is deliberately on the same sheet rather than on a second page. A planned figure at the top and a real figure at the bottom, both in view, is a sharper reminder than a spreadsheet nobody opens.
Bought and wrapped are separate columns
Keeping them apart is the difference between knowing you have bought everything and knowing you are actually finished. Most people hit the twenty third with four things bought and nothing wrapped, which is exactly the gap the second column shows up.
The row count control above the sheet offers twelve, sixteen or twenty people. Sixteen is the setting it opens on and fits an average family plus the people who get something small.
Typed or written
Every cell is a text box, so names and ideas can be typed and will appear in the downloaded PDF. A typed list is the one to use if more than one person is doing the shopping, because the ideas column stays readable when it is being passed about.
Printed blank, it works as a sheet to carry. It folds into a coat pocket, and a pencil tick in a shop is faster than getting a phone out in a queue.
Questions
- How many people fit on the gift list template?
- Sixteen rows as it opens, with twelve and twenty also on the control above the sheet. Each row has the name, the idea, a budget figure and tick boxes for bought and wrapped.
- Does it add the budget up for me?
- No. There is a printed total spent line at the foot and a field at the top for what you mean to spend altogether, but the arithmetic is yours. It is a paper sheet, not a calculator.
- Why are bought and wrapped separate columns?
- Because they finish at different times. Bought tells you what is still to find, wrapped tells you what is still to do on the evening of the twenty third. One column hides the second job entirely.
- Can I use it for a Secret Santa or an office exchange?
- Yes. Put each person in a row with their spending limit in the budget column. The Secret Santa section also has sign-up sheets and rules pages if you are running the whole exchange.