Excel Budget Spreadsheets

[ErikaLeigh]

Who all uses a excel spreadsheet to budget?

I have went through several of them and lord knows if i could remember how to i would create my own!

The one I have no handles pretty well (just got done starting to budget for May)

I just wondered if anybody had one they wanted to share? maybe we could use a thread like this?

[PNCTink]

We use Excel, but it's a really simple budget. DH created it and he lists all of our monthly bills on the right side, in order of when they are due. Then on the left we go week by week of what goes in and comes out of our account (groceries, gas, paycheck, and bills). Each week we total, and then we see where we are at the end of the month. Once we have just one week left we start again. HTH!

[Drummer's Wife]

I don't use excel for budgeting, but can see how helpful (and easy) it would be. I just finished that section of my Microsoft course so I honestly don't have any desire to open or work with that program for a long time. LOL.

[sunnysandiegan]

I primarily use Quicken for Macs for budgeting. However, I dislike the space/paper waste of Quicken when printing reports, so I export data to Excel and condense it prior to printing. Excel also turns boring tables of data into pretty graphs very easily.

[Monarchgrrl]

I use excel for our budget. It's worked well for me for years. I list out columns of each paycheck date, on the left side the rows list each bill, then the amounts of each bill are listed under the appropriate column. Then at the bottom of each column is the total of what all the bills are and then under that is the total of each paycheck. I update/mess with it at least twice a week, so it's definitely a living document that changes as I find out the exact total of a bill or if unexpected things come up.

[Newbian Mama]

Originally Posted by ErikaLeigh

Who all uses a excel spreadsheet to budget?

I have went through several of them and lord knows if i could remember how to i would create my own!

The one I have no handles pretty well (just got done starting to budget for May)

I just wondered if anybody had one they wanted to share? maybe we could use a thread like this?

I have used an Excel spreadsheet for almost a decade and I find it very helpful. I use it as a weekly budget and have several columns including Housing, Savings, Gas, Entertainment, etc.

If you want to see the actual sheet I will put it on my website and link it here.

[DirtRoadMama]

I get paid every two weeks. So, I listed all my bills in a box area at the top of the sheet. Under that, I created a list that starts with my pay date, and then all the bills to the 15th of the month (generally, trying to not make this complicated) under that, and total the amounts (put the bills in as a negative amount). Then, I start another list under that, and start that list with the next paycheck in the month, and include all the bills due after the 15th. Again, total that column. Whatever is left over can go to savings, or a special purchase.

Because there are more than 4 weeks in a month, every once in a while I get so far ahead of the bills that I can take one whole paycheck and put it in savings. Then, the next paycheck goes to those bills that were due. I schedule out a year in advance, and I usually get 2 of these "pay flips", and sometimes I get three of them.

I also have a column that keeps a running total of my bank account for me.

If anyone is interested, PM me and I'll send you a sample (with my info taken out, of course), and you can see if it will work for you.

[griffin2004]

I use an Excel spreadsheet for budgeting. My version is so easy peasy as to be ridiculous. And that's just how I like it!

I follow Dave Ramsey's advice to give every dollar a name before it comes in the door. I think it's called zero-sum or zero-based or something like that. In other words, I budget every dollar, whether it's going toward a regular bill, savings, my allowance, charitable contributions, groceries, etc.

I get paid twice a month, so I have my budget items separated by what gets paid with each check. Down one side I have all my budget items. In the next column, I list my budgeted allocation for that item. In the next columns, I list what I actually paid. I have a several months at a glance and can easily keep track of how close I am to budget, whether I need to make adjustments, etc.

Not fancy or sophisticated by any means, but it's worked for me for years.

[D&S Mom]

Try this one:
http://www.gailvazoxlade.com/resources.html
Go under "Interactive Worksheets". There's a budget one there. Lots of great info.

[Funnie]

Pear Budget Spreadsheet

This is what was out before the online version.

We have been using this one for a few months now and I really am liking it. I also am a Quicken user but prefer this budget over Quicken.

[ErikaLeigh]

I'm gonna look at the pear one and see

Its gonna be our first month using any sheet so im gonna try this microsoft one and see if i like it

Keep talking!