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Christmas Budget per Person Calculator
Type your Christmas money. Take out food, decor, travel and wrapping. Put your people in up to 3 groups. See how much you can spend on each person.
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Your gift budget per person
Type your total Christmas budget.
- Gift money
- —
- Total shares
- —
- One share
- —
| Group | People | Each | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Group 1 | 0 | — | — |
| Group 2 | 0 | — | — |
| Group 3 | 0 | — | — |
| Gifts | 0 | — | |
| Spare | — | ||
Each budget is rounded down to whole dollars. The spare is what is left: keep it for the gift you forgot. A planning tool, not financial advice.
How it works
- Take out the costs that are not gifts. Your total minus food, decor, travel and wrapping is your gift money.
- Count the shares. Each person gets as many shares as the weight of their group. With 3 / 2 / 1, a close person counts 3 times.
- Split the gift money by the shares. One share is the gift money divided by all the shares. Each person gets their shares times that, rounded down to whole dollars.
The example numbers: $900 in all, $250 for food, decor, travel and wrapping. That leaves $650 for gifts.
4 people × 3 + 5 people × 2 + 8 people × 1 = 30 shares. One share is about $21.67.
So: $65 for each of the 4, $43 for each of the 5 and $21 for each of the 8. That uses $643. The $7 left is spare.
Want the whole story, with what other people spend? Read our guide: How much should you spend on Christmas gifts per person?
Questions people ask
What weights should I use? Start with 3 / 2 / 1. If you want a bigger gap between your kids and your coworkers, try 4 / 2 / 1. If you want everyone the same, use 1 for every group.
I added two people and every number went down. Is that right? Yes. The total stays the same, so each new person takes a little from everyone. That is the point: the list can grow, the bill can't.
Why round down? So the gifts never add up to more than your gift money. The few dollars left over show as spare. Use them for tape, a card or a last-minute name.
Is my data saved or sent? No. The math runs on your phone or computer. Nothing is saved. Close the page and it goes back to the example. It is a planning tool, not financial advice.
More free help
- Not sure how much you can spend at all? Get the free 50/30/20 budget spreadsheet and see what your month allows.
- Need to check your monthly pay first? Try the free budget calculator.
The calculator gives you the numbers. The sheet keeps track.
Want to track every gift and what you really spend until December?
The Christmas Budget & Gift Tracker spreadsheet does that: a budget next to each name, what you paid and what is left. $1.98, one time.
