#EXCEL HOUSEHOLD BUDGETS FULL#

I personally keep track of how much goes into each “envelope” (we don’t separate them out in the bank account, just in my Excel spreadsheet), so I know how much we have to spend in each “envelope.” High Yield Savings Accounts

#EXCEL HOUSEHOLD BUDGETS FULL#

Twice a month, we make a deposit into the savings account for the full amount that we would otherwise be putting into cash envelopes. That’s why I decided to simply make the savings account in our home bank into an “envelopes” account. I would then have to take the cash out of the envelope, deposit it back in the bank, and then pay the credit card with that money. That’s because we would often forget to take the cash with us when we went out, which meant we would use our credit card to pay. However, after several years of dutifully filling envelopes with cash, my husband and I found that we were causing ourselves–and by that I mean me–more work. It got us in the habit of setting money aside with each paycheck for regular and irregular expenses. When we first got married, Dave Ramsey’s cash envelopes helped us tame our finances and end many of our money arguments. This portion of our budgeting system hearkens back to when we used to follow the Dave Ramsey cash envelope system. Whenever I receive a paycheck, I enter it into our spreadsheet. Some of my clients pay on the first of the month, some pay on the 15th, and some pay upon receipt of my work. Income 2, which is my freelancing income, tends to be much more variable and will often come throughout the month. I include that FSA reimbursement as part of my husband’s income each month. Sometimes the FSA money comes in within the same week as my husband’s paycheck, as it did in August, and sometimes it comes the following week. We receive a (very) partial reimbursement for his pre-school fees twice a month from our FSA. We also set money aside in a Flexible Spending Account to help pay for our four-year-old son’s preschool care. When his paycheck clears, I type in the amount in the corresponding week. My husband (Income 1) gets paid on the 1st and 15th of the month. This is the simplest part of filling out our spreadsheet. Now let’s take a look at each individual component of my tracking: Household Income After a few months of this habit, we had to decide whether to scale back our dining out spending, or increase that budget–or both. Between getting lunches at work, going out to dinner together for dates or as a family, or getting pizza or takeout on evenings when neither of us feel like cooking, we have a tendency to blow through our dining out budget every month. We use this monthly check-in to make sure we are on the same page and to increase or decrease any spending categories that might need it.įor instance, we tend to overspend in the dining out category every month. With the help of my husband, who uses Excel a great deal for work, I have set up the following spreadsheet to track our family’s income, savings, investments, and expenses:ĭuring the first week of each month, I print off the previous month’s page so that my husband and I can look over and discuss our finances. So without further ado, here is a breakdown of the system I use.Įditor’s note: even with all of the cool budgeting tools available today, the vast majority of my Masters of Money guests use(d) some type of modified Excel spreadsheet to track expenses or budget ( just like I did).

I mentioned to PT on our podcast conversation that I have an Excel spreadsheet that I use to keep tabs on every penny that passes through our family’s coffers, and he suggested I explain my system.

So, it should come as no surprise that the detail-oriented piggy-bank counter has grown up to use a pretty complex system for keeping track of my household budget. As a small child, I used to empty my piggy bank, count everything that was inside, and put it all back in, feeling pretty good about my net worth as an 8-year-old.

Excel household budgets