How to Start a Budget on Excel

Creating a budget is an important step in managing your finances and setting yourself on a path to achieve your financial goals.  In this article, we’ll show you how to start a budget on excel.

In this following section will show you how to create a budget in Microsoft Excel. It includes creating an account balance sheet, a cash flow statement, and a profit and loss statement.

Create A New Workbook

To begin, open up Microsoft Excel. Click File > New > Workbook. Name the file “Budget” and click OK.

Add Columns For Each Category

Now, add columns for each category. You will need to add three columns for each category. First, enter the name of the category (e.g., Food). Next, enter the amount spent on that category (e.g. $100). Finally, enter the date when the money was spent (e.g., 1/1/2018).

Enter Data Into The Cells

Once you’ve entered the data, you should see something similar to this:

Calculate Totals

Now you need to calculate the total cost of each item. To do so, click on the cell with the Total column heading and then select Sumif (or press Ctrl+1). This will open up the SumIf dialog box. Enter the criteria you wish to use as shown below:

Print Out Reports

You can also print out reports by selecting the cells you wish to print. Click on the Home tab and then click on Page Setup. Select the option “Print area only” and then click OK.

One way to track your budget is to make a spreadsheet and enter all your income and expenses. This way, you can add notes and calculate totals. In the end, you’ll have a clear picture of where you’re spending your money. Once you’ve created a budget spreadsheet, you’ll need to create a monthly expense sheet.

Create A Zero-Based Budget In Excel

The first step to creating a zero-based budget is to calculate your income and expenses. Use the 50/30/20 rule to divide your income into three categories: needs, wants, and savings. If you have irregular income, prioritize your expenses in terms of importance. For example, if you have gas, groceries, and electricity due this week, prioritize them over the bills due in three weeks.

Make Changes in Your Spending Habits

Once you have determined how much you need to save, you can begin making changes in your spending habits. For example, you may find that saving more than driving a nice car is a better priority than paying off your debt. You can also use the zero-based budget to plan for future expenses, such as a vacation or a down payment on a house.

The zero-based budgeting system can be a useful tool for managing your money, but it requires a lot of discipline and patience.

Even if you follow the guidelines to the letter, you may still find that it is difficult to maintain discipline over your spending habits. You may need to tweak your budget periodically to make sure you’re spending wisely.

Use A Zero-Based Budgeting App

In addition to creating a zero-based budget in Excel, you can also create a zero-based budget using a zero-based budgeting app. This app is similar to You Need a Budget, but only allows you to allocate income when it is already in your checking account.

It also offers a lot of resources to help you with your zero-based budgeting. Another popular zero-based budgeting app is Tiller, which offers zero-based budgeting spreadsheets and connects to your bank account, so you can import financial data with a single click.

Zero-based budgeting is an effective way to create a budget that forces you to be more aware of your spending habits. The concept is simple, but it requires careful planning. You need to list your monthly income and expenses.

You should also add any side jobs, rental properties, and investment income. You should also have bank and credit card statements to make sure you know how much you’re earning each month.

You can download a free zero-based budgeting spreadsheet template that helps you track your income and expenses. By following this guide, you will be well on your way to creating a zero-based budget.

Add Notes To Your Budget

In order to create an effective budget, you need to make sure you have a clear picture of your budget. In Excel, you can add notes in the notes column, and you can add multiple notes for different categories. Adding notes is extremely important. Trying to make a budget from bare dollar amounts is not very useful.

Calculate Projected Costs

If you’re starting a budget on Excel, you’ll need to calculate projected costs. The spreadsheet will include category headings and an Overhead section where you can forecast costs for monthly fees and other transactions.

You’ll need to add up all the rows in the Overhead section and then use the SUM formula in the Total Overhead row to total them all up. After you’ve calculated all the costs, you’ll see your net monthly income.

To calculate your projected costs, you’ll need to first determine how much you expect to spend each month. Some expenses have a fixed charge, while others are more a matter of guesswork. For those expenses that are a mystery, you can use an average of past expenses.

You can also calculate total expenses using the AutoSum feature. In this way, you can monitor your total spending and income as you make changes to your budget.

Once you have this information, you can enter it into a cell and make changes as necessary. You can also use the AutoSum feature to check on the status of your budget in real time.

Use Goal Seek To Experiment With Different Scenarios

You can also use Goal Seek to experiment with different “what if” scenarios. For instance, you can use Goal Seek to calculate how much money you will need to pay for a mortgage or a loan.

This will allow you to make a realistic budget for repayment. This function is also available in Microsoft Excel.

The cost of operating a business can be difficult to predict. It is important to understand how much cash you will need to fund your operations on day one.

In order to do this, you can use a template that allows you to input your estimated monthly operating costs. You can then subtract the estimated monthly costs from your monthly income.

Why Budgeting Is Important

A budget will show you where you’re overspending. We spend too much on fast food, dining out, entertainment, and impulse purchases. These three spending areas should be cut if one wants to achieve financial stability and set financial goals.

Set Goals And Objectives

A budget can help you set and achieve long-term goals. Having a specific criteria or map for spending will help you live within your means and save for a new car, housing down payment, or family vacation, pay debt off, etc.

Spending What You Have

Consumers have always spent more on discretionary items than they had; we owe it all on credit cards. In 2016, the average household credit card debt was $8,377, according to WalletHub. This shows that we use credit instead of savings to fund our lives.. i.e we are pretty much spending what we don’t have.

Happy Retirement

In your pension or retirement years will appreciate the value of investing a percentage of your budget. Budgeting a percentage of your income for retirement and investments will help you develop your ‘nest egg’.

Building  Emergency Fund

Life is full of surprises, both good and terrible. Having an emergency fund provides piece of mind. For most of us, this is three to six months of living expenditures; budget for this. It can be built up gradually.

Budgeting Helps Fix Problematic Spending Habits

Lastly, budgeting helps you regulate your expenses. This may help you discover where you’re overspending. Asking if something is necessary helps you estimate its cost/benefit. This will help you reconsider your spending and financial goals moving forward.