What type of Christmas shopper are you? Is it seriously last minute or all wrapped up in August? Are you the main shopper or is that someone else’s domain? Don’t tell my kids, but to my shame, there are some Christmas days when I’ve had no idea what ‘Santa’ brought until all the gifts were unwrapped. Suffice it to say, my wife covers this responsibility for both of us!
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This is part of a regular series of articles exploring the apps that we couldn’t live without. Read them all here.
Despite my wife’s amazing hard work, there are still a few people I have to buy for and each year it doesn’t seem to get any easier. Not only do I find it difficult to track who I’ve already bought for but when I think about what to get them, for some reason my brain goes mysteriously blank.
If only there was an app with dedicated tools for tracking gift buying as well as suggesting ideas of presents to get. Oh wait, it turns out there are dozens of them but one of the best that I’ve found is the Christmas Gift List Tracker by LW Brands. It’s an easy-to-use app that helps you organize your Christmas lists and track how much you’re spending. The app centers around three main features:
- Gift tracking
- Budget tools.
- Share and syncing of lists
With these simple tools, anyone can take charge of their gift-buying this Christmas.
The first and most important part of the app is the gift-tracking feature. The process begins by adding a set of recipients to which you’ll then assign gifts. Adding these recipients is as simple as typing in their names, with the benefit of being able to come back at any time to add or remove names. It couldn’t be simpler.
With the recipients in place, the next step is to add gifts to each person. Initially, I thought this would be as basic as adding text items underneath each name but in reality, this app offers a lot more functionality. After adding the name of the gift, it’s also possible to add the price of the gift, the status of it, a web address, and a photo. Very handy.
Status options for each gift entry include the idea, purchased, arrived, and wrapped. Keeping each gift’s status up-to-date helps you quickly see what stage you’re at and what you still need to do. If at any point you’re not sure what to buy someone, you can also utilize the app’s gift idea feature that offers suggestions on what to buy.
Additionally, you can copy a gift and paste it elsewhere or change the recipient of any gift you’ve already created. This is perfect for those moments when you suddenly realize that a gift you’ve bought would be better suited to someone else.
We all know what it’s like to overspend at Christmastime. Sticking to budget when we’re buying for our loved ones isn’t easy but it’s a whole lot more achievable with this app. The next best thing about the app is that it helps you to track what you’ve already spent and how much you have left. There’s even a convenient budget bar so that you can easily see what you’re spending.
Another feature that helps with managing the process of gift buying is the share and sync capabilities. This lets you create and share your gift list with others so that they can contribute to the gift-buying process. This is perfect for parents who take shared responsibility for buying presents for their children.
The free option for the Christmas Gift List Tracker offers the ability to add unlimited gifts and recipients. It’s also possible to protect, budget, and archive your list. These features are more than enough for the average user, but if you’d like to remove the ads, have collaborative list-making, and sync lists between devices, then you’ll need to purchase the Pro version. Don’t panic though; it’s only $2.99 / £2.99 per year and if you’re not sure whether it’s worth the money, you could always try their 3-day free trial.
The Christmas Gift List Tracker is keeping me more organized than ever this Christmas. If you’re keen to spend less time buying presents for the ones you love and more time being present with them, then I suggest you download this app.
Download the Christmas Gift List Tracker app on iOS or Android.
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paulo.n.hatton@gmail.com (Paul Hatton)
