Free Printable! Christmas budget tracker

Are you tired of overspending on Christmas? 

Me too. I love to give, but when I have to spend the first couple months of the next year recovering financially there is no joy, only stress. 

Plan your spending

The first step to avoiding Holiday Overspending is to make a plan. 

You need to decide how much money you have to spend on Christmas realistically, without hurting your family’s finances. Who is on your gift list and how much are you going to spend per person are questions you need to settle before you start the shopping.

Track your spending

The second factor is to track what you actually spend. Yes, you need to write down (or make a note on your phone) how much you spend per person, including the tax. Tracking your spending is a great way to visually see the money leaving your wallet and to know if you need to adjust the spending for someone else. 

It is amazing what happens when you track your spending! You make better choices because of the accountability of writing everything down and you spend more carefully. 

Use Cash

Especially when you use cash, which is the third factor in contributing to spending within your means throughout the Holidays. Once you have spent the cash, your gift buying is over. 

I created this Christmas Budget Tracker to help me stay on track this year and not go overboard with my gift giving, as well as to help you stay on track with your spending. 

Budget Tracker

The total amount you have planned to spend on Christmas goes up at the top. 

You will fill out all the names of who is on your gift list and the amount you want to spend per person. Then take this list to the store with you, quickly jot down how much you spent on each person and what you bought.

Do this right away at the store, because receipts rarely get looked at when you get home and if you do look at them, it can be hard to remember how much you spent on each person. 

Make sure to include the gift wrapping, holiday parties, and Christmas cards expenses on your Christmas Budget Tracker. 

You can see at a glance how much you have spent and how much you have left to spend. 

Be content in giving

The last factor in staying below budget with your holiday spending is to be content with what you have to use for each person. You can always stretch the money by making gifts by hand or mass producing gifts for everyone outside of your immediate family. 

You are still amazing, even if you can’t give to everyone or if you can’t spend a lot of money! 

So this year, let’s plan our holiday spending, track the amounts, give from the heart, and celebrate the New Year without having to pay for Christmas again!