# Santa's Little Helper — Holiday spending in check! > Christmas gift giving organizer and budget planner. (iPhone/iPad app by Jeremie Weldin.) - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/santas-little-helper/id295078245 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`) - Developer: [Jeremie Weldin](https://appshunter.io/developer/292219316) - Category: Productivity, Finance - Price: $2.99 - Rating: 4.50/5 from 13 App Store ratings · 73 written reviews indexed - Age rating: 4+ - Requires: iOS 16.4 · 43 MB - Languages: American English - Released: 2008-11-01 - Data updated: 2026-08-02 - Monetization: free - User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/santas-little-helper/id295078245/reviews.md ## What is Santa's Little Helper? Santa's Little Helper is a Christmas gift-giving organizer. It helps you plan and budget your holiday gift giving — so you stay on budget and never forget anyone on your list. Keep your holiday spending in check. A clear season budget shows what you've spent, what you've planned, and what's left — all at a glance. Don't forget anyone on your Christmas list. Know at a glance which gifts you need to buy at each store. Keep spending between children and families balanced and fair with groups and per-group budgets. Protect your list with a passcode and Face ID / Touch ID. Email a copy of your list to any address, or save a backup file you can restore anytime. Keep your peace of mind with the BACKUP AND RESTORE feature. Now with a beautifully redesigned interface and full light and dark mode. Santa's Little Helper is constantly being updated and improved. Features: - Season budget overview — spent, planned, budget, and what's remaining, at a glance - Visual progress for every person on your list - Countdown to Christmas - Groups for people, with per-group budgets to keep gift giving fair - Stores — tap any store to see all the gifts you're buying there - Filter gifts by To Buy, Bought, To Wrap, or Wrapped - Mark gifts as purchased or wrapped - Mark people as finished, and filter to see only who's left to shop for - Track a budget, group, age, and a note for each person - Passcode lock with Face ID / Touch ID - App-icon badge showing how many gifts you still need to buy - Light and dark mode - Email backups, plus save and restore backup files - Import your data from the original Santa's Little Helper app If you are having a problem, please email me at itunes-support@jweldin.com BEFORE posting a bad review to the App Store — I'm happy to help. ## Key features - Gift planning and budgeting - Track gifts by store - Mark gifts as purchased/wrapped - Balance spending across recipients - Passcode protection - Backup and restore functionality - Christmas countdown ## Recent user reviews (10 of 73) All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/santas-little-helper/id295078245/reviews.md ### 5/5 — This is my favorite app! *2025-12-20, version 1.9* Great way to keep track of Christmas lists. Easy to use and great way to keep track of how much you are spending. The developer is really responsive to suggestions! Great deal for the price! Update: I’ve used this for over ten years and I don’t think I would be as organized at Christmas without it. Thank you for continuing to support it! ### 5/5 — Great app!! *2023-10-12, version 1.9* When I first got this app, it was a little bit of work to get the people in. But boy does this, save me time and money! Best app ever I have come in under budget for the past four years. You can see what your initial budgets are and how close you come to those and you avoid over buying because you see a dollar list and an item list of everything that you are purchasing. Definitely definitely love this. ### 5/5 — My go-to Christmas tracking app! *2022-11-20, version 1.9* I have used this app for many years - 8 or 9 years! I’m working on my current Christmas list on it. I love it! However, with last night’s IOS upgrade, the app crashes when I select “+” (add). Help! Please fix this as I need it to finish my Christmas shopping. ### 5/5 — Great app! *2021-11-25* Great way to keep track of Christmas lists. Easy to use and great way to keep track of how much you are spending. The developer is really responsive to suggestions! Great deal for the price! ### 4/5 — Gifts by people view *2018-12-12, version 1.9* I’m loving the app. One thing that would be awesome is if I could select a person and see the gifts I have entered just for them instead of having to scroll through the full list of gifts. If it’s possible, I haven’t found it! ### 5/5 — Another Christmas made easier… *2017-12-15, version 1.9* I’ve used Santa’s Little helper for years, and I’m grateful for the update so that I can continue using it. ### 5/5 — My favorite app! *2015-12-31, version 1.8.6* This was my 3rd Christmas using this app. I have told everyone I know to buy it! I am a super busy mom of 3 and have NUMEROUS people to buy for. It keeps me organized & within my budget for holiday spending. I love that at a glance I can see who I still have to buy for and wrap. Great feature is that you can put where you bought a gift too... Easy returns if needed! I can not manage my Christmas shopping without this app! Buy it!!!! ### 5/5 — Awesome!!!! *2015-12-23, version 1.8.6* This is the most awesome app. So very well thought out and useful. ### 5/5 — Almost Perfect! *2014-11-21, version 1.8.6* This will be my 3rd Christmas using this app and I could not make it through Christmas without it! I've looked at other apps of this nature and none seem to compare. With a few tweaks (being able to create separate budgets for different groups instead of it all being lumped into one total, ie. Personal vs work and being able to highlight a person's name when they were completed) it would be perfect!! I just had to upgrade my review from 4 to 5 stars because of the super fast response I received from the app creator. And an update is coming soon...yay! ### 4/5 — Love love love this app *2014-10-24, version 1.8.6* I've used this app for at least 3 Christmases now. It's fabulous! It's a bit time consuming to put all the gifts in but it's kept me on track and on budget. No more wondering if I've been even with all the kids gifts, it does that for me. The best thing is it keeps the info until you delete or change it. I can see what I purchased last year and how much I spent , love it! One suggestion, maybe have a quick entry method to just list gifts & person... With the option of going back later to update to the longer entry format. ## Frequently asked questions about Santa's Little Helper ### What does Santa's Little Helper do? Santa's Little Helper is a Christmas gift giving organizer designed to help you plan and budget your holiday shopping. It allows you to keep track of who you need to buy gifts for, what gifts you plan to purchase, and where you intend to buy them. ### What are the key features of this app? Key features include planning and budgeting for gifts, tracking gifts by store, marking gifts as purchased or wrapped, balancing spending between children and families, passcode protection for your list, and a countdown to Christmas. It also offers backup and restore functionality. ### Is Santa's Little Helper free to use? Yes, based on the provided information, Santa's Little Helper is a free application. There are no mentions of subscription fees, paid versions, or in-app purchases. ### How can I ensure my gift list is secure? The app offers passcode protection to safeguard your Christmas gift list. This feature helps maintain the privacy of your shopping plans and ensures your spending details are kept confidential. ### What if I have a problem with the app? If you encounter any issues or problems with Santa's Little Helper, you are encouraged to email the developer at itunessupport@jweldin.com before posting a negative review. This allows for direct support and troubleshooting. ## Version history (last 5 releases) ### 2.2 — 2026-08-01 Two new ways to handle gifts that go to more than one person. DUPLICATE A GIFT Buying the same thing for each of your kids? Enter it once, then copy it and just change who it's for. The copy keeps the price, store and notes, and starts off as not yet bought or wrapped. SHARE ONE GIFT A single present for two people — a set of silverware for a couple, one console for the family — now appears on each person's list with the cost split evenly between them. Buying or wrapping it counts for everyone, because it is still one gift. EASIER PICKING Choosing a person, store or group now opens a searchable list instead of a long row of buttons. Much easier once your list grows. FIXES • Your list could appear empty after updating. Your data was always safe on your device — the app now finds it correctly. • The app sometimes reported a startup problem when nothing had gone wrong. • A backup file could be wrongly reported as corrupted. As always, if something isn't right, email me at itunes-support@jweldin.com before leaving a review — I'd much rather fix it. ### 2.1 — 2026-06-25 Rewritten from scratch for better design and performance. ### 1.9 — 2017-09-19 This app has been updated by Apple to display the Apple Watch app icon. 64 bit to support newer iOS. I didn't add any new features. To be honest this app no longer makes me any money, but I don't want to let down those that purchased and use it. So this is a "make it work with the latest iOS" update. ### 1.8.6 — 2013-11-22 Fixed passcode bug that would move 0's from the beginning of a passcode to the end. Optimized for iPhone 5's larger screen. 'Clear Gifts' now clears 'finished' on people as well. ### 1.8.5 — 2012-12-28 Great new icon thanks to James Ivaldi. ## Apps similar to Santa's Little Helper | App | Rating | Price | Category | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | [The Christmas Gift List](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/the-christmas-gift-list/id769268887) | 4.7 (5,518) | Free | Productivity | | [Live Wallpapers ๏ Backgrounds](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/live-wallpapers-backgrounds/id1625297407) | 5.0 (1) | Free | Productivity | | [FileHopper File Sharing](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/filehopper-file-sharing/id638263629) | 5.0 (3) | Free | Productivity | | [IronCrypto: Password Manager](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/ironcrypto-password-manager/id1439603249) | 4.7 (208) | Free | Productivity | | [STEM Girl Day at UT Austin](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/stem-girl-day-at-ut-austin/id1317502499) | 5.0 (5) | Free | Productivity | | [Password Genie Data Protection](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/password-genie-data-protection/id523004529) | 4.7 (3) | Free | Productivity | ## More apps by Jeremie Weldin - [SwiftTally 2](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/swifttally-2/id6496560207) All apps by Jeremie Weldin: https://appshunter.io/developer/292219316 --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-02.*