Christmas Travel & Guest-Ready Home Kit — Travel Budget & Bookings Tracker, Packing Checklist by Person, Overnight Guest Room Prep + While-Away House Care Planner (PDF + Spreadsheet)

The trip is booked. Except the rental car isn't paid, the pet sitter has no deposit, three sweaters are still in the drawer, and nobody arranged the mail. This kit is the difference between "booked" and "ready."

The other kits run the gifts, the cards, the dinner and the stockings. This one runs the two December jobs they never touch: leaving home, and having people sleep in it. What it cost, what's packed, what's stocked, and who is watching the house — in one place, with the math done.

What's inside

• Travel Budget & Bookings spreadsheet — every leg and booking with estimated vs. actual cost, a variance that calculates itself (an unpriced leg stays blank — it never fakes a saving), and separate Booked? and Paid? columns, because those are different things. The summary totals estimates, actuals, what's paid, what's still to pay, and what's left against your trip budget (worked sample: 10 bookings, $1,577.00 estimated, $1,538.40 actual, $756.50 paid, $781.90 still to pay, $61.60 left of a $1,600 budget — and exactly 2 legs not yet booked, named before they become a phone call from the airport).
• Packing Checklist — by quantity, not by bag — every item with qty needed vs. qty packed, still-to-pack that counts itself, and a status per row (worked sample: 12 items, 34 pieces needed, 28 packed, 82% there — with snow boots and the snack bag honestly flagged "To pack," not zipped-and-forgotten).
• Guest-Ready Home Prep — the overnight-guest shop list: needed minus on-hand = to-buy per item, line costs that total themselves, and a ready count per room (worked sample: 11 prep items, 6 ready, 6 things to buy, $68.40 estimated against a $75 prep budget — one shopping trip, with a number on it).
• While-Away Care & Lock-Up sheet — pet sitter, mail, plants, snow and house checks with times × cost totals, an arranged/not-arranged status per service, an 8-point lock-up checklist that counts itself done, and a whole-trip total pulled live from all three other sheets (worked sample: 6 services, 15 sessions, $217.00 of care, lock-up 5 of 8, whole-trip total $1,823.80).
• Printable pages — the same tools as print-and-write pages, an arriving-home checklist (cancel the mail hold, check for leaks, thank the house checker properly), and a house-checker door hanger with the alarm, shut-off and pet notes in one place — hung inside the door, like the page tells you.

How it works: Buy → instant download link at checkout and by email → open the spreadsheet in Excel, Google Sheets or Apple Numbers, or print the PDF pages → the yellow example rows show every total working; overwrite them with your own trip and go.

Honest notes: Digital download — nothing is mailed. This is a household organiser, not a travel agency or a security service: it tracks the arrangements you make, it doesn't make them, guarantee prices, or watch your house. Travel prices in the worked example are illustrative, not quotes. Keep the care-plan page (alarm and key details) somewhere private — the printable tells you why. Colours may vary slightly by printer. Personal use; print as many checklists and door hangers as your own trips need.

Pairs with the Christmas Organizer Printable Bundle ($9.95) — gifts and the overall budget — the Meal & Party Planner Kit ($8.95) — dinner guests — and the Stocking & Secret Santa Kit ($8.95). The Organizer tracks what you buy; this kit gets you out the door, and gets the house ready for whoever sleeps in it.

FAQ

• When do I get it? Immediately — download link at checkout + emailed. No shipping, ever.
• How is this different from the Meal & Party Planner Kit? That kit ($8.95) hosts people at your table: dinner RSVPs, menu, groceries, cooking timeline. This kit hosts people overnight and gets you travelling: bookings and travel budget, packing, guest-room prep (bedding, towels, toiletries), and care of the house while it's empty. No sheet is repeated between the kits.
• We're hosting, not travelling — is half the kit wasted? No — the guest-prep sheet and the lock-up/arrival pages stand alone, and the while-away sheet doubles as a "house while guests are out for the day" checklist. Use the sheets you need; they are linked only in one whole-trip total cell, which simply reads zero for sheets you leave blank.
• What do I need? A printer for the checklists and door hanger (card stock for the hanger) and Excel, Google Sheets (free) or Numbers for the spreadsheet. The printable pages work on their own.
• Refunds? Digital download — if a file won't open or a formula misbehaves, contact the store first and we'll fix or refund.