Spreadsheets, Budgets and Debts?

learning_to_drive

Morning all,

Want to get a proper handle on my debts and things, so as a result, how do people go about working their:

* Spreadsheets, i.e. for food, expenses etc etc etc?

* Debts, is it a case of listing absolutely everything that is owed (deposit owed to parents for car insurance) or unsecured (overdrafts and HP loans etc?)

* Budgets - Some practical advice on how to best budget, would people recommend really going tighter than tight so stop going into my overdraft, or £-100 leeway allowed initially?

Some practical advice to these points would be appreciated before I post my situation, it's not that bad (compared to some poor folks on here) but I just would like a better handle on my money. I'm notoriously poor (maxing overdraft out each month) because I have no control, I need some focus on a weekly budget so I can stick to it.

But, I need your guys help to set it all up, which debts to include etc before I start making plans after plans after plans!

Cheers in support,

Steve, (Btw, my name is invalid, I passed my test in Aug!)

Imelda

Hi Steve,

Congrats on passing your driving test!

Spreadsheets rule, and I don't think I am alone in saying that. The best thing is you can tailor it to your needs.
Why don't you post an SOA, see southernscouser's sticky at the top of board, list all ingoings and outgoings and list ALL debts with APR and minimum payment etc. This should give us a better idea what you need.

I'll look out for it!

Brassic

Hi there,
I'm a bit obsessed with my spreadsheet, and since I keep going on about it I thought I'd put it somewhere people can see it.

If you click this link My spreadsheet and click save, you should be able to have a look/use it/ignore it

HTH, it's really helped me keep a handle on everything

Wrt debts I really would list absolutely everything - adn try to find out interest rates so you can start to snowball.

And personally, I'd go tighter than tight, but I count my OD's as debts too, all down in my snowball to be paid off in a certain order.

HTH!

Zulu_Dawn

Wow!!

That is a spreadsheet and a half. Lots of things I really like about it, particularly some of the macros on the snowball page.

There are also some functions in there I haven't used (Offset,match) and a very neat month out of debt formula.

You've let a couple of dollars slip in which always upsets me, but hey I'm being picky. Nice work.

You must be an accountant or something similar!


ZD

learning_to_drive

the spreadsheet is absolutely amazing, this was something I was looking for!

I uttered the words "Jesus Christ" as it opened with colours and everything everywhere, just have to make a couple of calls to Black Horse to sort out what payments and when, and then I'll post SOA, deal with the spreadsheet, etc.

I love coming on here, I wish I did when I was really stressed out (anti depressants at the age of 20 ) with new job that I hated, new car that I could barely afford, insurance, driving 20 miles a day to work, girlfriend going away to Hull Uni, all just piled on top of me, I made myself rather ill.

Happily I'm near enough sorted, I'll post the entire story, my current job situation, SOA, have a look at the spreadsheet, in between posting most of my old football clothes on ebay.

A small tip, start to really look and root through stuff, I must have gear I haven't worn in 2 years, if you start to think just of ebay, you can put around 40 items a day on of things you don't even use / wear anymore.

I'm currently off sick from work for this week, Pulled a muscle in my back, happily I get paid, only 24 hours money though actively (desperately) job hunting at the present moment in time!!!!!!

Will post an update soon folks, thanks so far!

doelani

I could not live without my spreadsheet, I can project 6 month in advance what spare money I have going by what our basic income is and what our outgoings are. This is important as we are in IVA and I need to keep back 50% of all extra income and my spreadsheet works all that out for me.

I check bank everyday and just update it as to what the acual figures are.
I too am obsessed with my spreadsheet and do it first thing every morning. When I was in hospital for 5 months hubby could look at it and knew that everything was covered as we withdraw a set amount each week and everything else stays in bank. Every few months I then withdraw any ectra money and always try to leave a buffer in there of between £100-£200. as hubby gets paid weekly and we work on a monthly budget.


If I knew how to show you it I would lol

jacs76

Thats a fab spreadsheet thankyou for letting people have a look.

ZTD

Just a tip: if you need to stop forumlae being changed/overwritten, then use the cell-protection feature of Excel.

Ruby_Pudding

My spreadsheet started out very simply and expanded as I got a bit more confident about what I was doing. I have 3 bank accounts and 2 credit cards so they all have a worksheet each - all incomings and outgoings are listed on each account (date, details, amount) and I also keep receipts for some of the bigger outgoings so I give that receipt a number and note it against the transaction too. (This can be very handy for keeping receipts all together - in a little folder - and a couple of times I've had to return stuff and was able to find the receipt straight away because I'd made a proper note of it). Each account has a running total so I know TO THE PENNY what is in the account or what is owed. This proves very handy with the current accounts as I know what should be in there when my actual bank shows something different.

I have expanded it slightly to include a worksheet showing all outstanding debts and this is updated on a weekly/monthly basis when I have paid off anything. I also have a monthly Standing Order and Direct Debit worksheet so I know exactly what is paid on a monthly basis and when - the ties up nicely with my current account as I can keep an eye on what still needs to be paid and what I can use for day to day spending.

Hope that all makes sense

michael19_2

Congratulations to the techie people using the spreadsheets. I myself have tried doing spreadsheets for my finances in the past and I must say although i am not technically inept I found it really hard to grasp all the formulas and cells etc etc.

So I thought I would give MS Money a go and since then I havnt looked back. I now have over 5 years of my finances stored in my money file, it can predict my spending patterns and shows me to the exact penny what I have or have not. I find it very easy to use and fully customisable. It also makes an interesting read especially when looking at reports like "Net Worth Over Time"

If you want to get a handle on your budget but find spreadsheets scary or boring... then I recommend MS Money as I would never use anything else.

Michael

Ruby_Pudding

O/T I know but I just wanted to say that I understood evry word in your signature michael19 and it does work!!