Gift Ideas and Sizes Record

Who this is for

The ideas before they are forgotten, and the sizes before the shop asks. One row per person and occasion holds the idea, what they like and what fits them, a budget and what was actually spent, and the sheet works out the difference and the totals.

Anyone who buys for a family, a set of friends or a class of colleagues across the year — birthdays, Christmas, weddings, new babies — and would rather not stand in a shop guessing a shoe size.

What this helps you track

• Ideas as they come up, months before the date, against the person and the occasion
• Sizes, colours, allergies and what they already have, in the words you would use
• What you meant to spend and what you did, line by line
• The difference on each gift and across the sheet
• Which gifts are bought and which are still to find

How to use it

1. Write whose list this is and the year or period it covers at the top.
2. Add a row whenever an idea comes up — the person, the occasion, the idea — even if the occasion is months away.
3. Fill the sizes and preferences column when you learn something: a shoe size, a favourite colour, a thing they said they wanted, a thing they already have.
4. Set a budget for each row, then enter what you spent when you buy it and tick bought. The difference and the totals are worked out in the browser and the workbook.
5. Before each occasion, filter or scan for the person and check the bought column.
6. Carry the sizes and the unused ideas onto next year's sheet; that is the part that gets more useful every year.

Formats

• Printable PDF (A4 and US Letter)
• Fillable PDF with form fields
• Fill in online, saved in your browser
• Excel / Google Sheets workbook

The printable is laid out inside a box that fits both A4 and US Letter, so the two files are identical and neither one is scaled. The fillable PDF has real form fields. The workbook uses plain formulas only — SUM, IF, COUNTIF and the like — so it opens in Excel, LibreOffice and Google Sheets without anything breaking, and every calculated cell is grey so you can see which figures it worked out.

How to print

Download the A4 or US Letter file to match the paper in your printer, open it in a PDF reader and print at 100% — not "fit to page", which shrinks the writing space. Both files leave a 14 mm margin, which clears the unprintable edge on home printers. To print the online version with your entries in it, use the Print this sheet button, which prints only the sheet and none of the page around it. More on printing.

Questions

Is this the same as a gift list for a wedding or a Christmas planner?

No. Those sheets are about one event and everyone at it. This one follows the people you buy for across the whole year, and keeps the sizes and preferences that stay true from one occasion to the next.

What goes in sizes and preferences?

Anything that helps the next purchase: clothes and shoe sizes, ring size, colours they wear, things they collect, things they cannot eat, the brand they always use, what they got last year. Free text, in your own words.

How is the difference worked out?

Budget minus spent. A positive figure is money not spent; a negative figure is an overspend on that line. The totals at the foot and the summary add the whole sheet up.

Can I keep it private?

The browser version stores what you type in your own browser only, and nothing is sent anywhere. If the family shares a computer, print it and keep the paper somewhere sensible instead.