by skysnap » 24 Feb 2017, 07:03 It's easy to handle the finances on spreadsheet. Microsoft Excel can help manage such spreadsheet lot easier. Using spreadsheet template, each month you can keep tab on the finances. This can make things lot easier for you if you are living on paycheck months. Such templates can be downloaded from plenty of websites out there. For example vertex is one such sites where you can find such templates. You can download those templates in PDF and Excel. Here are some of the things to keep tab on while making a spreadsheet for monthly budget.
Starting Balance
Every spreadsheet should have the starting balance at the top. You have to understand that this is the money that you have got in your wallet. And here you have to understand that you are not wasting the money. Starting balance can be low and you may add to it in the month. But for the sake of simplicity that can be helpful if you are adding a little disclaimer to understand that part. Most of the people who want to keep tab on outgoing money don't get idea of how much they had at start. So it helps if you can find out if there is something specific with your money in the wallet which you spent.
Income
You have to add the income sources into this spreadsheet. You can then analyze the source through which the money is coming in. This can be helpful if you have so far logged the ways with which the money gets added into your balance. It could be job money. It could be part time and online income. You just have to keep adding such money to understand how many sources of earning are active for you. Income sources can include share market and other sources. Make sure that you are not listing the gift and other stuff. Because that won't be active income sources for you.
Expenses
How much you spend makes a lot of sense in the spreadsheet. So you may have to log each and every little thing that you spend money onto. Your spending onto small things matters a lot. You should consider logging those details. Even if it is as small as dollar. And this habit of doing that in spreadsheet shows you closing balance. Because your starting balance and expenses goes in the same calculation towards the closing balance. I suggest you to start with some specific amount. This field is very much important. And you should consider logging this field every day till the end of the month. After month ends same template for new month.
Closing Balance
Just like starting balance you need to have understanding for the closing balance. This gives you idea that you started with some specific amount. And then after expenses you ended up with this amount. And this sort of check gives you realistic idea of where you are going. Closing balance can show you a lot of things. And this is definitely a good metric to keep track of. Long term this can also be a good indicator where you understand how it can help you. My personal suggestion is keep a table that lists how much closing balance you had each month. At the end of the year you can take a look at it.
These are the minimum fields that should be on you spreadsheet. By making such spreadsheet you can easily make things easier for yourself. This way you can keep tab on your finances.
