Sale Season Wishlist and Price Tracker

Who this is for

See the real saving, not the label. List what you mean to buy in the sales, record the price you saw before the sale began and the price on the day, and the tracker works out the saving and keeps the total against your own budget.

Anyone shopping Black Friday, Boxing Day or the January sales who wants to buy from a list rather than from the adverts, and anyone buying Christmas presents in the sales.

What this helps you track

• What you plan to buy and who each item is for
• The price you saw before the sale and the sale price on the day
• The actual saving in money and as a percentage
• Which items you bought and the order reference
• The total at sale prices against your budget

How to use it

1. Write the sale event, the dates and your budget at the top.
2. List each item before the sale with who it is for, the retailer and the price you see in the weeks before.
3. On the day, enter the sale price you find; the saving columns and the summary are worked out in the browser and the workbook.
4. Tick bought and write the order reference so returns and missing deliveries are easy to chase.
5. Leave anything with little or no saving on the list, and check the total against your budget before you buy.

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

Why record the price before the sale?

Because the was price on a sale label is the retailer's figure. Your own note of what the item cost in the weeks before is what shows whether the sale price is really lower.

How is the saving percentage worked out?

The saving divided by the price before the sale, times a hundred. If you leave the before price blank, the percentage shows nothing rather than a misleading figure.

What does budget remaining include?

It is your budget minus the total of every sale price on the list, so it shows what is left if you buy the whole list. Delete lines you decide against to keep it honest.

Can I use it for other sales?

Yes. Write the event and dates in the header and it works for any sale, from end of season clearances to a single shop's promotion.