Budget Set-Up and Up-Keep Instructions
Sample Set-Up Instructions
Attached you will find the Sample Money Tracker.xls file. This is set-up for Microsoft Excel. Use the following instructions to personalize it and start your budget. You will want to save the file as your name and the year.
Note: the light blue highlighted boxes are where you will enter your information
Feel free to experiment with the sheet yourself, adding and removing items. But, be careful not to erase too much, unless you can replace the formulas again.
Step 1: Go to the Summary Page. Replace “name” with your last name in box A1 where it says “Name Money Tracker”
Step 2: Under income summary, write in your monthly paychecks, their amounts and the date they are deposited. Change the names to describe the type of income ie. Matt Frito, Dawn MEI. Change these names below where the income item distribution calculations are found. This should change the names on each category as well.
Step 3: Under expenses fill in the fixed amounts. These are your non-negotiables; home fixed which encompasses your rent or mortgage, property taxes and insurance and car fixed which is your car payments, ICBC insurance. This may include your giving category if you have set it at an exact percent.
Step 4: Fill the rest of the expense goal categories starting with your needs categories like groceries, home utilities, car variable and then to your wants categories like entertainment and clothes. Keep an eye on the “money left to distribute” number until it is zero. In the notes section beside each category goal you can write more information about the categories. You may want to write the average amount of each of your bills under home utilities (gas, electricity, cell phone, cable/internet) and when they come out.
Step 5: Decide how your fixed expense are going to come from your individual checks. Place them in the applicable light blue spots under income item distribution. Blanks can be left or made zero. For example: if your home fixed category is $1,415 per month you will take $600 from each paycheck #1 (twice per month) and $215 from each paycheck #3 that comes ones per month.
Step 6: To determine how much will be in each category initially, plug in your bank total into one of the paycheck spaces. Allocate money to the fixed categories that are set to come out first. Use your upcoming paychecks and the amounts going to be taken from them in step 5 to decide how much needs to be placed in your fixed categories to be ready. The rest will be distributed according to the percentages calculated from your work in step 4. When the fixed categories look cared for, go to each category page and enter the amount as the initial.
Step 7: Go to the totals page. Set up links to your bank website, and credit cards by right clicking on the link and then going to edit hyperlink.
Step 8: Place your starting credit card totals in the credit section of the debt repayment category. Pay at least the minimum payment each month, as well as the amount you have allocated monthly. Work on paying off your lowest card first. Once that is paid off, move to your next lowest etc. Completely paying off a card will be rewarding and keep you motivated to continue.
Up-Keep Instructions
Paycheck in: When you get a paycheck, enter it on the summary page. Then go to each category page and enter the amount to be added in the credit column along with the date and a short description (paycheck name).
Pre-shopping: When you want to buy something or go out for a date, first check the category total on the “totals” page to see how much you can spend. Make your decisions accordingly.
Post-shopping: When you have bought something, enter it in the category and balance with the bank total. When you buy with a credit card, enter the amount in the description until you pay it off. Also, put the amount under the credit section of that category. Check frequently with your bank statement and credit card statements to keep on top of your spending. Pay it off as soon as you can so that your credit total will not be growing.
Monthly Summary: At the end of the month, total up the amount in and out on each category page. Place those numbers in the totals page to get a look on how much you are spending on average in each category.
A few thoughts about budgets:
- Knowledge is power! Without a budget, denial is the most used technique to get passed guilt from overspending and unnecessary purchases. By committing to knowing where your finances are at, debt and all, you will be taking a step closer to success.
- If your goal of starting a budget is to get out of debt, as most of ours is, change your motivation. A budget will help you to get out of debt, but is useful even after debts are paid off. The motivation of a budget is to keep organized so that you can feel free to spend. Organization will eliminate the times where you are hoping people cash cheques at just the right times so that they won’t bounce. An organized budget will also allow you to be more generous with gifts and to be a blessing to others.
- If you are starting this budget with debt, great! Total up, all your debts – credit cards, student loans, car loans etc; this total, although daunting, will never be higher. Write it down so you can see where you have come.
- I believe that God wants to bless you for you and so that you can be a blessing to others. If you are not organized with your budget, God can’t use you to bless others, because anything extra you receive, you will use on yourself. If you know exactly what you need (not being over-restrictive), then you can recognize when you receive something that is not intended for you but to be passed on. We have the giving category, which can be adjusted to be whatever percentage you would like, which we don’t even consider our money but God’s. We recognize that ALL we have is from him, and we make the sacrifice to give back just a little. With the money in that category, it is not ours, so we don’t choose what to spend it on. This gives us great joy as we can be open to needs around us. A friend going on a missions trip, a local charity raising money, a kid selling candy at your door. We can answer those needs with the money in that category without worrying about it getting in the way of our groceries or rent.