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Sure. Here's a screenshot of a sample I mocked up (with fake numbers and fake categories) https://imgur.com/a/tJUcJE3 https://imgur.com/a/tJUcJE3 I keep my eye
by wenc 8y ago
Sure. Here's a screenshot of a sample I mocked up (with fake numbers and fake categories)
https://imgur.com/a/tJUcJE3 https://imgur.com/a/tJUcJE3
I keep my eyes primarily on the monthly Running Balance line, and specifically, the Year End Target (the rightmost item on that line). Those are the KPIs (key performance indicators) that I monitor.
The calculations are fairly simple. The running balance Total Income - Total Expenses + PrevRunningBal. (PrevRunningBal is 0 and excluded from the formula in the first month).
Once-off Expenses is a category that's expanded out in the bottom so I have a better sense of where I spend chunks of unbudgeted money. It's summed up in the Expense item "Once off Expenses".
I also have a monthly buffer as a safety factor, in case I overspend.
As you can see I don't track expenses at the receipt level (too tedious), just on the gross level (and only if it's above a certain amount -- I don't sweat a $2 pack of gum).
For me this is a good balance between a too-loosy-goosey budget that is useless and a too-detailed-budget that is tedious to keep up.
This is enough to keep me on track for the entire year, and I usually end up with quite a bit of spare change at year end.
- jgalvez 8y agoI like the idea of a running balance. That's what I want to accomplish by enabling multible tabs/sheets. Lots of good ideas, thanks.
- o_enix_o 8y agoOh this is really nice! Thanks - gives me something to construct tonight :)
- o_enix_o 8y agoOne question - what do you do with the End-of-Month Reconciliation? Is that something you fill in every month?
- wenc 8y agoYes. If my running balance doesn’t match actual cash in my bank account, I just enter a correction and an in-line comment describing the cause of the discrepancy. However often I find I’m usually in the right ball park (my recurring expense patterns are very regular) so I rarely use that field. Also I’m rarely off budget by a lot, partly because of the visibility this tool provides. My feedback loops are tighter due to monitoring. You can also do what-if scenarios pretty easily, e.g. can I afford a vacation in Spain in a particular month without dipping under, how much of a raise do I need to ask for to hit a target, etc. You can play around with timing and amount. A spreadsheet provides you with all the metaphors you need to do planning and budgeting efficiently. It’s a solved problem. It’s really hard to beat.