May 24th, 2009 | 
Author: 
Doug M asked:
I have been using a personally created excel spreadsheet that tracks our monthly expenses of which I have set a budget amount for each category. Recently I added several formulas that automatically set a budget for the coming month based upon the average of the past several months. The only way I could achieve this was with a separate workbook with running totals. Each month I would have a new column with an increasingly lengthy forumla to capture the average from prior months and the most recent month. While it achieves a highly accurate budget figure for things that vary like grocery bills, electric bills, and so on, it is very difficult to make the 20 or so formula changes on each month’s budget sheet. Is there a template out there that anyone is aware of that both has a monthly budget that will change according to past actual spending that also tracks the monthly spending. We track spending each month with multiple transactions so for instance our grocery category has 15 or so entries each month, not just one figure added up at the end. What type of budget spreadhseets or perhaps software programs would achieve what I want with far less hassle? Thanks!
Elmira Hinman
I have been using a personally created excel spreadsheet that tracks our monthly expenses of which I have set a budget amount for each category. Recently I added several formulas that automatically set a budget for the coming month based upon the average of the past several months. The only way I could achieve this was with a separate workbook with running totals. Each month I would have a new column with an increasingly lengthy forumla to capture the average from prior months and the most recent month. While it achieves a highly accurate budget figure for things that vary like grocery bills, electric bills, and so on, it is very difficult to make the 20 or so formula changes on each month’s budget sheet. Is there a template out there that anyone is aware of that both has a monthly budget that will change according to past actual spending that also tracks the monthly spending. We track spending each month with multiple transactions so for instance our grocery category has 15 or so entries each month, not just one figure added up at the end. What type of budget spreadhseets or perhaps software programs would achieve what I want with far less hassle? Thanks!
Elmira Hinman
Posted in Personal Finance | 
Tags: Budget Spreadsheets, Excel Spreadsheet, Hassle, Monthly Budget, Software Programs