If you’re just starting or have had trouble budgeting, DEFINITELY start with a short list of budget categories. Now the question is, “How detailed should I get?” It will help you figure out where the areas of overspending are coming from and give you the awareness to make positive changes in your spending. The purpose of budgeting is to improve your spending habits so you can have more money left over at the end of the month.īudget categories are the meal logging of personal finance. While the goal of monitoring your eating is to get to your ideal weight. Tracking your spending will have the same effect. Then I used that info to make some changes, and I lost 10 pounds in 5 weeks! That process helped me identify where my calories were being eaten. Nothing, and I mean nothing, I at after 8pm was helping my cause. Most of the extra calories came in the form of 50 extra here and there throughout the day, but it added up. It wasn’t until I started tracking it that I was able to figure out ways I could improve. The first thing I noticed is that I had wildly underestimated the calories I was eating. (What does this have to do with family budget categories? I’ll get there.) To figure it out, I started tracking what I was eating. I didn’t know why I wasn’t losing those last few pounds, because I thought I was eating ok. You may learn how to use Excel better in the process.Have you ever been surprised by your credit card bill at the end of the month? You thought you were doing fine, but then “Wham!” you see the actual number and are totally surprised by it. If you use and customize any template for your personal budget, make sure you understand how it works and always double-check the formulas. The flexibility comes at the price of possibly deleting or messing up an important formula, or making bad assumptions. In my opinion, the #1 problem associated with using a spreadsheet for your personal budget is the chance that you'll make errors. it's just a disclosure to say that I don't ONLY use Excel any more.Ī spreadsheet may not be the best budgeting solution for everybody. I started out using Excel to do everything, but I began using Quicken after a friend showed me how easy it was to keep track of checks and credit card charges and download transactions directly from my bank. A budget is almost useless without tracking what you are spending. For expense tracking, you could use my Income and Expense Worksheet, Checkbook Register, or the newer Money Manager. Tracking your income and spending comes both before and after making a budget. For example, I like to use cell comments to explain certain budgeted items in more detail (such as the fact that in May, there is Mother's Day and a couple of birthdays to remember).Ĭreating a simple personal budget (even if it is only on paper) is one of the first steps to gaining control of your spending habits. The reason I use Excel when working with my home and business budgets is that it gives me complete flexibility to keep track of the information the way I want to. If you don't own Excel, then Google Sheets and OpenOffice are free options to consider. Microsoft Excel isn't free, but if you already own Excel, then you can create a budget without purchasing other budgeting software. 42 Effective Ways to Save Money Budgeting Tips for the New Year Why Use Excel for your Personal Budget?įirst reason: it's free.
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