Budgeting with pots spreadsheet

kerri_dfw

I've done a search but couldn't find anything similar but apologies if it already exists.

(Link removed by Forum Team)

I've been reading a lot about budgeting using the envelope system or the pots system, whereby you put away an amount each month to save up for annual spends.

This can be used for paying car insurance, road tax, freezer breakdowns, council tax etc. Anything where you pay extra to pay monthly can be allocated to a pot.

How it works
The spreadsheet can currently hold 11 different bills, but I can adapt it to hold more if required. I only have 8 different bills on mine.
In row 1 you enter the name of the bil then in row 2 type in the amount that bill costs annually.
The other rows then update to say how much needs to be allocated to each "pot" monthly.
Field N3 shows the amount that needs to be set aside each month.

The fields in orange are automatically updated using formulae and do not need any information entered into them.

Paying money in
Each month you update the fields M8 - M19 with the amount that you've put into the pot. These are higlighted in blue with a black border.

Then you transfer money into your pot, either physically with cash, or virtually with bank transfer.

Spending pot money
As these are annual payments, as long as your payments aren't all grouped together you should be able to dip into the pots. So for example in June a lot of my car payments go out, making it a month where I have to find £800+. However, as I've paid in for 6 months I have the money there to pay it in full

I've overestimated my bills slightly in case insurance goes up etc, then there are no surprises.

To record a spend, find the bill and go down the column until you get to the correct month in the "spend" section. This is highlighted in green with a black border. These fields are set to be GDP currency.

Why it's a good practice
Even if you start with one bill that you are charged a premium for paying monthly, you are saving on those interest payments You'll also always have some "emergency" money, for when the freezer breaks or the car needs new tyres etc.

How to make your own
Go to File > Download As > Excel and you can save the file to your computer. If you then open the file and save as you will be able to edit it yourself as the one I have published is read only.

hp48910

Guess what I'll be doing later?! :O)

kerri_dfw

Hehe don't forget to copy and paste it as I can't work out how to upload a google doc for others to download, but should work with a c+p

brizzledfw

Looks interesting Kerri..will have a nose laters x

HelenPie

Will take a good look at this. I have my own collection of spreadsheets, which I'm pretty addicted to! :rotfl:

debtfreewannabe321

thanks for sharing kerri looks similar to mine actually but might be better....so going to have a proper look now! dfw x

kerri_dfw

If anyone wants an emailed copy with it in excel then I can email them one when I'm in work as I don't have office on my home machine, just DM me

psychopathbabble

If using chrome you can download it as an excel file which you can then edit x

ETA: Although when I changed a figure in the second row, it went to ######## so not sure what I did!

Mrs_Addicted_to_Spending

Thanks very much Kerri - I have downloaded it into Excel and will be using it very soon

steve1980

kerri_dfw wrote: »

If anyone wants an emailed copy with it in excel then I can email them one when I'm in work as I don't have office on my home machine, just DM me

You can put Open Office (https://www.openoffice.org) on your pc which is free and opens xls/xlsx formats.

kerri_dfw

I think I might be able to upload the spreadsheet to some server space I have for people to be able to download it willynilly Will investigate this when I get home.
I'll also upload my 2nd purse/stockpile spreadsheet I've made which makes 2nd purse easier to understand