Holiday Gift Budget Calculator
List each person you're buying for and how much you plan to spend, then compare the running total against your overall holiday budget.
How the running total works
Two lines of arithmetic, recalculated on every keystroke:
total planned = sum of every recipient's planned amount
remaining = overall budget - total plannedThe page starts at a $500 budget with two $50 rows, so $100 planned and $400 left. When the total passes the budget the third line changes from Remaining Budget to Over Budget By and the card turns red - $560 of gifts against $500 reads as over budget by $60. A blank or non-numeric amount counts as $0, and an unnamed row shows as Recipient 3.
Why the per-head average is not the plan
$500 over twelve people averages $41.67, and almost nobody gets that. Real lists have a tail:
| Group | People | Each | Subtotal |
|---|---|---|---|
| Immediate family | 3 | $100 | $300 |
| Friends and colleagues | 5 | $25 | $125 |
| Teachers, neighbours | 4 | $15 | $60 |
That is $485 of the $500, and the three names at the top are 62% of it. Enter those first: whether the budget holds is decided there, not by the $15 rows.
Frequently asked questions
How much should I spend on Christmas gifts?
Work backwards from what you can set aside, not from a list of prices. $60 a month from August through December is $300, and that figure - not the number of names - is the budget you type in at the top.
The tool says I am over budget. Where do I cut?
Look at the top of the list, not the bottom. Taking $5 off eight small gifts saves $40 and is noticed by eight people; moving one $100 gift to $60 saves the same and is noticed by one.
Does the calculator save my recipient list?
No. Everything is held in the page, so reloading clears the rows and returns the budget to $500. Screenshot the summary if you want to keep it.