How to use Planly Merry List

Your planner lives privately in your own Google Drive, so the first step is making your personal copy.

1. Open the PDF from your Etsy purchase (Etsy → You → Purchases and reviews → Download files).
2. Click the “Make my copy” button. If you're asked, sign in to your Google account.
3. Google shows a “Copy document” screen. Click the blue “Make a copy” button.
4. Your copy opens. Rename it if you like (click the title in the top-left), e.g. “Christmas 2026”.

The light cells at the top of SETUP feed the dashboard title, the countdown, every due date and your budget plan.

1. Open the SETUP tab.
2. In C6, type your Household, e.g. “The Carter family”. It shows in the dashboard title.
3. In C7, pick the Holiday: Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, The holidays or New Year. You can also type your own.
4. In C8, enter the Holiday date. It starts on December 25, 2026. Every due date on TO-DO, the countdown and the dates of Christmas Eve, Christmas morning, Christmas dinner and New Year's Eve on EVENTS follow this date.
5. In C9, enter your Total budget for the whole season, gifts included.
6. In C10, pick your Currency. Money labels across the planner show it, e.g. “Budget (£)”.

The lists to the right on SETUP fill the dropdowns on the other tabs. The defaults work well, so change only what you need.

1. Budget categories (E6 to F17): Gifts 50%, Food & drinks 15%, Decorations 8%, Travel 8%, Events & hosting 6%, Giving & charity 4%, Cards & postage 3%, Wrapping & shipping 3% and Outfits 3%. Change the names or percentages to fit your family.
2. Keep the total in F18 at 100%. It turns pink when it doesn't add up.
3. Leave Gifts as the first category. The first category also counts everything you spend on GIFT LIST, whatever you call it.
4. Gift groups (H6 to H15): Family, Kids, Friends, Work, Teachers & helpers, Neighbors, Secret Santa and Other.
5. Your people (J6 to J13): Me, Partner and Kids to start. Use real names so you can see who's buying and cooking what.
6. Where you shop (L6 to L17): Amazon, Target, Walmart, Etsy, Local shop and Handmade, with room for more.

GIFT LIST holds 150 gifts, one per row. A person with two gifts gets two rows, and the By person table adds them up for you.

1. Type the Recipient and pick their Group.
2. Add a Gift idea and pick Where to buy.
3. Enter a Budget for the gift. Add the Actual cost once you buy it.
4. Set Status as you go: Idea, Ordered, Bought, Wrapped, then Given.
5. Pick who's buying in Bought by, and add Ordered on and the order number or tracking for anything shipped.
6. Check the cards at the top: Gifts, Gift budget, Spent, Still to buy and Wrapped or given.
7. The By person table on the right lists everyone on your list once, with their total budget, spent and number of gifts. It fills itself.

Planly Merry List · Gift list with totals by person

BUDGET is for spending that isn't a gift: groceries, the tree, travel, cards, stamps and so on. It comes with 12 common items to get you started.

1. For each item, pick a Category, then enter what you Planned to spend.
2. Add the Actual amount and Date once you've paid. Add your own items in the empty rows.
3. The cards at the top show Total budget, Gifts (from GIFT LIST), Everything else, Total spent and Left.
4. The By category table shows Planned (your total budget × the % on SETUP), Spent and Left for each category.
5. Spent for the first category also includes every Actual cost on GIFT LIST, so your gifts count toward the plan without typing them twice.

CARDS keeps your holiday card list from year to year. Three ticks on each row tell you who's on this year's list and where things stand.

1. Add each household's Name(s), Mailing address, Email or phone and Group.
2. Tick Sending for everyone getting a card this year.
3. Tick Sent as each card goes in the mail. Until then, the Sent box is pink for anyone you're sending to.
4. Tick Got one when a card arrives from them, so next year's list is easy.
5. Check the cards at the top: On your list, Sending, Sent, Still to send and Cards received.

EVENTS lists every party, dinner and get-together. It starts with Office party, Cookie swap, School concert, Christmas Eve dinner, Christmas morning, Christmas dinner and New Year's Eve.

1. Add or rename events, then fill in the Date, Time and Where.
2. The dates for Christmas Eve dinner, Christmas morning, Christmas dinner and New Year's Eve fill in from your holiday date. Type over them if your plans are different.
3. Tick Hosting for anything at your place. The event name turns green.
4. Add Guests, what you're Bringing or serving, Outfit plans and Notes.
5. Next up at the top shows your next event from today.

MENU has two lists side by side: every dish for every meal on the left, and one grocery list on the right.

1. On the left, pick the Meal (your events are in the dropdown), type the Dish and pick the Course.
2. Choose Who's making it and a Make ahead on date if it can be made early.
3. Tick Ready when a dish is done. It greys out and gets crossed off.
4. On the right, add each Grocery item with Qty, Section and which dish it's For.
5. Tick Got it as you shop. The item is crossed off, and Still to buy at the top counts down.
6. Add a Cost for each item to see the Grocery cost total.

TO-DO has about 40 tasks from early November to after the holidays. Each one has a When, and the due date is worked out from your holiday date.

1. Read through the list. Pick Who's doing each task from your people.
2. Due dates count back from the holiday date using the table on the right: Early November is 50 days before, Mid December 12 days before, Christmas Eve 1 day before and After the holidays 7 days after.
3. Change a task's When to move it, or type your own date over the Due date.
4. Tick Done when it's finished. The task greys out and is crossed off.
5. Add your own tasks in the empty rows and pick a When for each.
6. Check the cards at the top: Tasks, Done, Progress and Overdue.

CALENDAR puts your open to-dos and your events on their dates. There's nothing to type here except the month.

1. Pick a month in C5. It starts on December 2026.
2. Events show with a ★ and open to-dos show by name on their due date.
3. Your holiday shows with a 🎄 and its date is highlighted in pink. Today is highlighted in green.
4. Days from the months before and after are faded.
5. Ticked-off to-dos disappear from the calendar.

Planly Merry List · December calendar

The dashboard pulls everything together. There's nothing to type here.

1. The title shows the holiday, the year and your household, with the date underneath.
2. The cards show Days to go, Budget left, Spent so far, Gifts to buy, Cards to send and To-dos done.
3. Planned vs spent by category compares your plan with what you've spent, gifts included.
4. Gift progress shows how many gifts are To buy, Ordered, Bought, Wrapped and Given.
5. Gift spending by group shows where your gift money goes.
6. To-dos by month shows done and still to do for each part of the season.

Planly Merry List · Holiday dashboard