Spreadsheet ideas?

8ofspades

Hi all,

I've noticed some people mention that they update a spreadsheet daily and I just wondered if there was a template out there, or what people's preferred way of doing it is? Every time I think about sitting down and doing one, it gives me a headache, which is weird because usually I love a spreadsheet!

I'm pretty OK with the budget we have at the moment for bills and household expenses, but I really fall down with my 'other' spending. I've added a few categories to the budget to help cover this (such as an allowed pot for birthday presents, I pay into monthly, certain birthdays are allowed to come out of that) but my income varies (wage covers basically the essentials, then anything else comes from ebay/surveys) and I know when this other money comes in I'm spending it without awareness. Actively trying to do better at the moment and getting somewhere, but I think tracking would definitely help.


What do you find works best?

Willing2Learn

MSE has an Excel spreadsheet template

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/Budget-planning/?_ga=2.234421406.1253246478.1557241668-686301347.1557241668#bplanner

dreaming

I have several linked spreadsheets in my "money" folder, but then I am a bit of geek according to my family. The main one is just a list of my bank accounts and credit card showing debits/credits/running balances. I tend to update this when I spend and reconcile it to my accounts weekly. Next there is a "monthly spending" sheet in which I record what I spend my money on. So there is a column for food, direct debits, then a column for miscellaneous spending with details of what that spending was - e.g. hobby, petrol, birthday present etc. , and also shows income. This also gets updated when I spend but at the end of the month I sort the miscellaneous spending into categories then transfer those figures into another spreadsheet which shows how much I spend each month with columns for running totals and monthly average. This is kept for a year and is used as the basis for my next year's budget which I do in January. Sometimes I find I have spent much more on one particlar category than I thought - for example I went a bit mad on a hobby last year so increased the budget slightly but also determined to reduce it as well (which I have so far this year).
I also have other spreadsheets linked to these basic ones and each year they get archived onto an external hard drive (did I say my family think I am a geek?). It doesn't take that long to update them - say 5minutes a day (if I have spent anything that day); 10-15 minutes once a week for reconciliation which means any errors/problems get caught quickly plus provides reassurance that my bank log-ins work ok; 30 minutes once a month to update the monthly spending sheet. The new budget I do in January can take a while as I look at the previous year's spending and adjust the spreadsheets to include/delete certain categories. I always factor an increase in the budget to allow for price rises - often just an easy round 10% as I always err on the side of caution.
Having just looked at the one on the MSE site much of it is very similar to what I do but I am happy with the information I can garner from the way I display mine. I took early retirement so my income is my company pension, plus bank interest and quarterly solar panel feed-in tariff payments. I do record any additonal income - e.g. I sold a few item online this year, and I have just switched some bank accounts for the incentives offered. This means I have multiple bank accounts so do feel I need to keep an eye on things regularly, but I actually enjoy keeping track of everything (it was actually my job for several years). I also hate shopping so find it easy to be quite disciplined about spending which is actually the biggest factor in being able to live what I consider to be a good life on a limited income. Getting started with a spreadsheet is always the hardest thing but once it is up and running it becomes second nature and takes very little time to keep on top of.

8ofspades

Willing2Learn wrote: »

MSE has an Excel spreadsheet template

https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/banking/Budget-planning/?_ga=2.234421406.1253246478.1557241668-686301347.1557241668#bplanner

Ah that's great as a budget planner but I think I'm looking for more of an ongoing tracker for spending?

Willing2Learn

If you need something to help you gain control of your spending, then I would recommend YNAB. It has really helped to turn around my life (from a financial perspective). It is expensive, but due to the zero-based budgeting methodology, it saves me more money than it costs. The trial is free and there also free web-based seminars to teach newbies how to track and stay in control of their spending

8ofspades

dreaming wrote: »

I have several linked spreadsheets in my "money" folder, but then I am a bit of geek according to my family. The main one is just a list of my bank accounts and credit card showing debits/credits/running balances. I tend to update this when I spend and reconcile it to my accounts weekly. Next there is a "monthly spending" sheet in which I record what I spend my money on. So there is a column for food, direct debits, then a column for miscellaneous spending with details of what that spending was - e.g. hobby, petrol, birthday present etc. , and also shows income. This also gets updated when I spend but at the end of the month I sort the miscellaneous spending into categories then transfer those figures into another spreadsheet which shows how much I spend each month with columns for running totals and monthly average. This is kept for a year and is used as the basis for my next year's budget which I do in January. Sometimes I find I have spent much more on one particlar category than I thought - for example I went a bit mad on a hobby last year so increased the budget slightly but also determined to reduce it as well (which I have so far this year).
I also have other spreadsheets linked to these basic ones and each year they get archived onto an external hard drive (did I say my family think I am a geek?). It doesn't take that long to update them - say 5minutes a day (if I have spent anything that day); 10-15 minutes once a week for reconciliation which means any errors/problems get caught quickly plus provides reassurance that my bank log-ins work ok; 30 minutes once a month to update the monthly spending sheet. The new budget I do in January can take a while as I look at the previous year's spending and adjust the spreadsheets to include/delete certain categories. I always factor an increase in the budget to allow for price rises - often just an easy round 10% as I always err on the side of caution.
Having just looked at the one on the MSE site much of it is very similar to what I do but I am happy with the information I can garner from the way I display mine. I took early retirement so my income is my company pension, plus bank interest and quarterly solar panel feed-in tariff payments. I do record any additonal income - e.g. I sold a few item online this year, and I have just switched some bank accounts for the incentives offered. This means I have multiple bank accounts so do feel I need to keep an eye on things regularly, but I actually enjoy keeping track of everything (it was actually my job for several years). I also hate shopping so find it easy to be quite disciplined about spending which is actually the biggest factor in being able to live what I consider to be a good life on a limited income. Getting started with a spreadsheet is always the hardest thing but once it is up and running it becomes second nature and takes very little time to keep on top of.

Wow, that sounds incredible! I'm not sure what my problem is, I have a ridiculously in-depth spreadsheet with various different sheets I set up for ebay, which I take great pleasure in keeping up to date, but any financial spreadsheets always end up neglected and eventually abandoned fairly quickly. I'm thinking it's because I try to include too much - pretty much everything - when my budgeted stuff looks after itself and has done for years, I just move a chunk of money into the joint account that covers both monthly and yearly payments and anything in between. So I'm thinking maybe of not including that bit and just focusing on all the other transactions in and out that currently feel a bit out of control because they're not being properly tracked and accessed.
I really like the categories idea and being able to see where your spend goes at the end of the year - I think that will make a big difference to me. It's all those little spends that don't seem much at the time but add up.

MovingForwards

I have a couple of spreadsheets on the go, easy to update on my phone too.

First spreadsheet is bills, so rent, electric, council tax etc. I also include my credit card payment. That is done for the year and only updated when bills go up or when I've spent on my credit card.

On that one I also work out my income for the month (I get paid weekly). I can then see income less outgoings.

I also have a section on it for my historic debts so I can see how much is outstanding, how much I pay each month and the running credit balance in that account.

On a separate spreadsheet I have every savings account, ISA and my two other current accounts (one is my debt payments account). Again they are set up for the year and get updated as I move pennies across, interest gets added etc.

I log into my main current account daily so I can keep track of how much is left.

It's worked for me for nearly three years now.

8ofspades

Willing2Learn wrote: »

If you need something to help you gain control of your spending, then I would recommend YNAB. It has really helped to turn around my life (from a financial perspective). It is expensive, but due to the zero-based budgeting methodology, it saves me more money than it costs. The trial is free and there also free web-based seminars to teach newbies how to track and stay in control of their spending

That's not a bad idea! I actually have YNAB 4 (not sure how it compares to the new subscription one) and that is probably the biggest thing that helped me get out of debt 3/4 years ago, but once I was out of debt I slowly stopped using it and the budget became too out-of-date to deal with. I might start a new budget through it and see if I can make it work for me again, it'd certainly be easier than programming a spreadsheet

Willing2Learn

8ofspades wrote: »

That's not a bad idea! I actually have YNAB 4 (not sure how it compares to the new subscription one) and that is probably the biggest thing that helped me get out of debt 3/4 years ago, but once I was out of debt I slowly stopped using it and the budget became too out-of-date to deal with. I might start a new budget through it and see if I can make it work for me again, it'd certainly be easier than programming a spreadsheet

I am still using YNAB 4 and the free linked android app. Since you already have the product then just re-start doing things the YNAB way and regain control of your spending. I stopped using it for about 18 months but then restarted a year ago when I realised I was falling into bad (spending) habits again.

dreaming

8ofspades wrote: »

Wow, that sounds incredible! I'm not sure what my problem is, I have a ridiculously in-depth spreadsheet with various different sheets I set up for ebay, which I take great pleasure in keeping up to date, but any financial spreadsheets always end up neglected and eventually abandoned fairly quickly. I'm thinking it's because I try to include too much - pretty much everything - when my budgeted stuff looks after itself and has done for years, I just move a chunk of money into the joint account that covers both monthly and yearly payments and anything in between. So I'm thinking maybe of not including that bit and just focusing on all the other transactions in and out that currently feel a bit out of control because they're not being properly tracked and accessed.
I really like the categories idea and being able to see where your spend goes at the end of the year - I think that will make a big difference to me. It's all those little spends that don't seem much at the time but add up.

Thanks - it works for me. A friend of mine just writes down her sepnding in a lttle book - pretty much the same thing. I actually go against what a lot of people suggest and hardly ever use cash. My credit card gives me supermarket vouchers so I tend to use that for everything (and yes - pay it off in full each month!) - but as I said, I'm very disciplined regarding money. Although I have been known to weaken when the local convenience shop has my favourite ice cream on offer. I supposedly shop there for "just" milk and bread between thrice-monthy supermarket visits but the spreadsheet tells the tale of my indulgence lately. That's the thing - by recording what I spend, and what on, I can immediately see if things are getting out of hand.

Yellow_mango

dreaming I have several linked spreadsheets in my "money" folder, but then I am a bit of geek according to my family. The main one is just a list of my bank accounts and credit card showing debits/credits/running balances. I tend to update this when I spend and reconcile it to my accounts weekly. Next there is a "monthly spending" sheet in which I record what I spend my money on. So there is a column for food, direct debits, then a column for miscellaneous spending with details of what that spending was - e.g. hobby, petrol, birthday present etc. , and also shows income. This also gets updated when I spend but at the end of the month I sort the miscellaneous spending into categories then transfer those figures into another spreadsheet which shows how much I spend each month with columns for running totals and monthly average. This is kept for a year and is used as the basis for my next year's budget which I do in January. Sometimes I find I have spent much more on one particlar category than I thought - for example I went a bit mad on a hobby last year so increased the budget slightly but also determined to reduce it as well (which I have so far this year).
I also have other spreadsheets linked to these basic ones and each year they get archived onto an external hard drive (did I say my family think I am a geek?). It doesn't take that long to update them - say 5minutes a day (if I have spent anything that day); 10-15 minutes once a week for reconciliation which means any errors/problems get caught quickly plus provides reassurance that my bank log-ins work ok; 30 minutes once a month to update the monthly spending sheet. The new budget I do in January can take a while as I look at the previous year's spending and adjust the spreadsheets to include/delete certain categories. I always factor an increase in the budget to allow for price rises - often just an easy round 10% as I always err on the side of caution.
Having just looked at the one on the MSE site much of it is very similar to what I do but I am happy with the information I can garner from the way I display mine. I took early retirement so my income is my company pension, plus bank interest and quarterly solar panel feed-in tariff payments. I do record any additonal income - e.g. I sold a few item online this year, and I have just switched some bank accounts for the incentives offered. This means I have multiple bank accounts so do feel I need to keep an eye on things regularly, but I actually enjoy keeping track of everything (it was actually my job for several years). I also hate shopping so find it easy to be quite disciplined about spending which is actually the biggest factor in being able to live what I consider to be a good life on a limited income. Getting started with a spreadsheet is always the hardest thing but once it is up and running it becomes second nature and takes very little time to keep on top of.

You are my HERO! :beer: