Spending spreadsheets-how do I make one?!

lonelyinlondon

I have done Martin's budget thingy which was useful. Various posters have said that they use a spreadsheet to itemise expenditure. I don't have microsoft money and am not brilliantly IT literate but could anyone give me some idea/an example of how they note down their daily/monthly expenduture please? I think it would be a help as sometimes I feel that mu money is running away with me! Thanks.

Mark7799

The basics of my spreadsheets are three columns that run like a bank statement and a few more for decoration

a b c d e
1
2
3
4

Cell A1 = date of transaction
Cell B1 = details
Cell C1 = money out
Cell D1= money in
Cell E1 = balance

If row 2 = balance forward details and the balance forward/opening balance is entered in e2. In e3 you need to enter "=e2-c3+d3". Drag and drop this as far as you want and you've got your bank statement.

Hope this is of some help.

pixie1

lonelyinlondon wrote:

I have done Martin's budget thingy which was useful. Various posters have said that they use a spreadsheet to itemise expenditure. I don't have microsoft money and am not brilliantly IT literate but could anyone give me some idea/an example of how they note down their daily/monthly expenduture please? I think it would be a help as sometimes I feel that mu money is running away with me! Thanks.

Ive recently made one, its not fantastic but if youd like a copy pm me your email address and I will forward it to you.

Pixie

Debt_Free_Chick

Just be careful with spreadsheets - it's very easy to make mistakes in the coding of the cells.

If you're not confident with spreadsheets, you may find it more efficient simply to buy a cheap copy of MS Money off ebay - subject to the usual warnings i.e. ensure it's a legit, full copy and not an upgrade or one without a valid license. You don't need the current version of Money - any version will do what you want.

tru

Mark7799 wrote:

The basics of my spreadsheets are three columns that run like a bank statement and a few more for decoration

a b c d e
1
2
3
4

Cell A1 = date of transaction
Cell B1 = details
Cell C1 = money out
Cell D1= money in
Cell E1 = balance

If row 2 = balance forward details and the balance forward/opening balance is entered in e2. In e3 you need to enter "=e2-c3+d3". Drag and drop this as far as you want and you've got your bank statement.

Hope this is of some help.

That's the exact same thing I do :T

I can tell you what my balance will be on any date up to 31st december 2007

frugglewump

I have a spreadsheet with columns for fixed expenses that I know about & a "remainder" column that tells me how much spending money I have for the month. As the month goes on every time I spend something I deduct it from the remainder - this includes things like internet buys that might not come out of the account immediately and it allows me to stop when I've got through the amount I set for myself that month.

The other sheets in the workbook are used for individual transactions on my credit cards and I have a "current position" page that give me the running total on the debt & debt-free date.

uptomyeyeballs

I have a monthly spreadsheet (I keep a template) where I record all of my cash spending (this is what you need to keep under control). It has days of the month in columns and items in rows. I can see how much i've spent each day and how much i've spent on each item for the month.

I allow myself an average of £10 per day, and also show a +/- figure against my daily allowance. I average the daily spending and from this can estimate if i'm on target or not. Treating each day individually means that even if you have a total blowout on one day, you can see how to bring your spending back within your plan.

Anything left over at the end of the month can be paid toward your debts, then the whole thing starts over the next month. Doing it month by month means that bad months can be put behind you and as long as your budget is realistic you should be able to make real savings.