For the past few years, I've shared a budget I created in Excel. Here is the latest version which is pretty much last year's version, but hopefully mostly bug free.
This budget is quite flexible but is meant to be fairly manual, and should not be compared to Mint / Yodlee / Latest iPhone app. It is a way to record each transaction you make, categorize it, and really get a good view of your spending habits, WITHOUT having to share your personal financial data with any web service.
It is excel protected so that the formulas in the sheet don't get messed up. Password is "jginsing" for anyone that wants to look under the hood.
Let me know of any bugs or questions on features.
100% free of charge.. this is Fatwallet!
For those that want to put in the effort, it can be a really great tool - it has been for me. For those that don't, at least take the New Year to think about budgeting in general and look into the various tools out there.
Someone alerted me to a bug... updated a new version in the original post.
cr3s
Handsome Member
posted: Jan. 2, 2013 @ 1:45a
What does RD and Type mean? What's their purpose?
Edit: I suppose one future improvement would add the feature that allow one spouse to have uneven income and/or working in March instead of January. for people that are in-between jobs.
Naft11
Senior Member
posted: Jan. 2, 2013 @ 5:54a
cr3s said: What does RD and Type mean? What's their purpose?
Edit: I suppose one future improvement would add the feature that allow one spouse to have uneven income and/or working in March instead of January. for people that are in-between jobs.
If you hover over RD and Type, there is a pop up that has a description. RD - Redistribution type - you can set the unused portion of your budget to be redistributed over the remaining months. For instance, you might want to budget 2k for travel over the year, but won't be using it every month. Type - that's for income, if it's set use A (Automatic) and you don't need to put an entry in each month. If it is different each month, use M (manual) and you put an entry each month for the income. This might help you for your uneven income issue.
cr3s
Handsome Member
posted: Jan. 2, 2013 @ 8:49a
Naft11 said: cr3s said: What does RD and Type mean? What's their purpose?
Edit: I suppose one future improvement would add the feature that allow one spouse to have uneven income and/or working in March instead of January. for people that are in-between jobs.
If you hover over RD and Type, there is a pop up that has a description. RD - Redistribution type - you can set the unused portion of your budget to be redistributed over the remaining months. For instance, you might want to budget 2k for travel over the year, but won't be using it every month. Type - that's for income, if it's set use A (Automatic) and you don't need to put an entry in each month. If it is different each month, use M (manual) and you put an entry each month for the income. This might help you for your uneven income issue.
Thanks for the follow up. I'm using Open Office (too cheap to buy XLSX) and do not see the description. This explanation really helps a lot.
uberpowers
New Member
posted: Jan. 2, 2013 @ 11:08a
Thanks OP.
lotusgardener
Broke Member
posted: Jan. 2, 2013 @ 11:39a
barsotti0 said: Here is a copy of the worksheet I have used for the past 6 years to help meet my goals.
Holy OCD, Batman! I may start using this in conjunction with my Excel Checkbook. Let's see where (or on whom ) I'm really overspending.
Arris1
Dismembered Member
posted: Jan. 2, 2013 @ 7:05p
Green for the awesome spreadsheet and making my life easier!
Bowen
Senior Member
posted: Jan. 3, 2013 @ 7:30a
Green. This looks like a really nice tool. Thank you for sharing!
coolmind
Member
posted: Jan. 3, 2013 @ 2:52p
awesome
sublimebri
Greedy Member
posted: Jan. 3, 2013 @ 2:54p
Am I the only one stilling using Microsoft Money for all of this?
SpoogE
Member
posted: Jan. 3, 2013 @ 3:36p
Green for you, OP! We have been using this spreadsheet tool for the past several years since the birth of our first son. It was instrumental toward getting our finances in check while we adjusted to being a single-income household. Thanks for continuing to maintain this each year.
rage3
New Member
posted: Jan. 5, 2013 @ 1:11p
I have used the PearBudget spreadsheet for about 6 years running. They offer an online budgeting tool now (for a monthly service fee) but I prefer their original spreadsheet which was always given for free. I like how it categorizes expenses as Regular, Irregular and Variable. Aesthetically pleasing is a bonus.
It has been written about in the Wall Street Journal, etc.
Big time green! I'm going to try to convert my budget to this. DH will love it, too! I need monthly accounting; he wants a big picture budget.
You rock! Big Green!
kenwo88
Cranky Member
posted: Jan. 8, 2013 @ 2:26p
Naft11 said: Someone alerted me to a bug... updated a new version in the original post.
Thank for the spreadsheet, very useful!
I'm not sure if I have the latest version, but it seems that for January, if you use redistributable = "Y", the budgeted amount, and hence, the remaining amount, doesn't calculate correctly.
RedWolfe01
Senior Member - 1K
posted: Jan. 8, 2013 @ 8:24p
sublimebri said: Am I the only one stilling using Microsoft Money for all of this?
Probably one of the few. MS dropped support and updates for the product years ago. I still miss it and greatly preferred it over Quicken.
I used the Money software to track all the activity on my accounts though, which is a large part of what was lost when MS quit supporting it. So stuck with Quicken now.
c0rinne
New Member
posted: Jan. 31, 2013 @ 12:03a
Thanks for the budget! I've been filling it out faithfully all month long. It's sobering to see where my money goes because I've already been budget obsessed since last Jan., and particularly since this past May.
Question: for the paychecks. Do you input the amount made each month before taxes are taken out and then include the taxes as a separate line item or only the adjusted amount?
bbmak
Member
posted: Jan. 31, 2013 @ 12:06a
Can you share it in google doc? I do not have Microsoft office suite.
Update: NVM. I import it to my google doc
lotusgardener
Broke Member
posted: Feb. 2, 2013 @ 5:06p
c0rinne said: Thanks for the budget! I've been filling it out faithfully all month long. It's sobering to see where my money goes because I've already been budget obsessed since last Jan., and particularly since this past May.
Question: for the paychecks. Do you input the amount made each month before taxes are taken out and then include the taxes as a separate line item or only the adjusted amount?
There are line items for each tax thats taken out, but I just put the net income on my spreadsheet, makes it easier to deal with.
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