Christmas Budget

 

It’s the most wonderful time of the year…at least if you’re Coupon Chic! We’re not going to freak out because together we’ll get through this holiday season without breaking the bank.

One way is using a budget. And I was SO super excited when I came across Aubrey from EasternShoreMom’s Christmas Budget Spreadsheet. She was kind enough to let me post and tell you all about it.

The layout is very simple and very user friendly! You could edit it or add stuff to it to make it do more but for those of us that are pretty basic in our Excel knowledge, it does it’s purpose perfectly!

All you do is list the people you plan on buying for this year, your budget amount you plan to spend on that person. Then once you’re picked an item, you list it with the price you spent and subtract that from your budget and enter that price in under “Amount Left.” At the bottom it totals up your Total Budget, your Total Spent and your Total Left. How cool is that?

Using a spreadsheet come in really handy. It helps you keep track of who you’re buying for (don't you hate when you realize they day before Christmas that you forgot to get something for Aunt Ruth?!), how much you’ve spent on each person and all together, and you can just print and go when you’re ready to head out to shop. An added bonus is that you’ll have it for next year to give you an idea on setting your budget amount and what you got everyone. I can barely remember what I myself got, much less what I bought everyone else after a year!

Now, if you need more lines to add more people (big families mean bigger lists!) you can highlight the whole row, starting with “Total Spent” and drag it down and then do the same with the “Totals” row. If you do this, you will need to change the formula that calculates the total. This is very simple and to show you, I’ve taken some still shots.

Highlight the “Total Spent Row” and drag it down til you have enough room for all your names.

Do the same with the Total’s Row. Now click on the total boxes (the $200 and $31) and change the second number to the number of the row above the “Totals” row. So, for example it the picture the row above my “Totals” would be 31 so I’d change the last number from 16 to 31.

To download the spreadsheet or learn how to make your own, click here to head over to EasternShoreMom. If you have any questions please feel free to email me and I’ll try and help. Also be sure to check out Aubrey’s Christmas on the Cheap for great deals this season.

Thanks Aubrey at EasternShoreMom for everything!!