Sally’s Kitchen & Stuff

Ok. Here’s what you need:
1. A printer. You don’t have to print it, but it’s much more effective if you do.
2. One sheet of paper.
3. A copy of MS Excel or similar spreadsheet software. Stay late at the office to do this, or get yourself a copy of:
    - OpenOffice, or if you want something standalone, give Gnumeric a try. Both are free and open-source. Calc rocks.
4. Have a paper calendar ready to pick out dates. A mini card one will do.

And here’s what you do:

1. Start a new spreadsheet. Title them your first 5 columns DATE, EVENT, DEPOSIT, WITHDRAWAL, and balance.

2. Figure out all your paydays, 3 months in advance. Point them out on the calendar, write down the dates. Write down how much each paycheck would be next to the date.

3. Write down a list of expenses - Date/title/cost. EX: 12-dec-05 Phone bill -40 - again, 3 months in advance. Make this only NECESSARY expenses - phone bill, rent, utilities, groceries. We’ll work on the "want to spend" section later. If you’re not sure how much you’re being paid (if it varies), work out and average and -$50. Always add $20 on top of variable bills - such as the phone and util bills.

3. Select the money rows (depot, withdraw, balance) and change its number format to "currency." Right click > format. I choose the "-" sign over using brackets simply because it takes up less space when printed. If you like, add a row on the bottom with how much cash and money in the bank you have RIGHT NOW, and label it under today’s date.

4. Now we sort the list by date. In excel, it’s select fields > menu data > sort > sort by date, ascending, with header row. Now the magic begins.

5. In the balance row, add this function to the E2 field "=SUM(C2:D2)" and in the E3 field: "=E2+SUM(C3+D3)"
What you’re doing is adding your above balance to the mix of "deposit + (-withdrawal)"

6. Now select that second balance field (assuming that the first one is cash-in-hand), select the remaining fields and choose fill from the edit menu, then down. Voila! The bottom right corner number is how much you’d have in the bank if you only spend on necessities, by the beginning of march. According to this budget, if you’re a single bachelor making the average $500 a week, and sharing a house with someone, you can save a whooping 5k in three months. Of course, if you make less than this and sometimes run into trouble paying bills, just check your balance. Any negatives would be automatically highlighted in red.

Now you can customize it! Simply add the fields in the bottom of the list and re-sort to see WHEN and HOW MUCH you can spend on entertainment, clothes and etc and still save a bundle.

Now to stick to said budget.

It’s harder than you might think. A cup of coffee every morning at Starbucks could run you $60 a month. Grabbing lunch instead of making it? $5 x 5 x 4 = $100. Going out for dinner? There goes another $20. So, how to stick to that budget?

1. Use cash and keep all the receipts. This might seen like an oxymoron, since cash in hand goes faster than cash in bank. The problem with cash in bank is that once you have that bankcard, you could spend anywhere from $20 - $2000. If you budgeted $200 for that shopping trip, take out the $200 and put it in your wallet. Leave the bankcard and credit cards at home.

2. Still got that budget sheet? Keep your goal in sight. Select the whole thing and change the font size to 8 pts. Then move the fields around so it’d fit on a nice little card about the size of your wallet. Take all your bank cards out - you’d only need one, and that only on occasion - and tape the card over the inside of your wallet. Now every time you pull it out to buy coffee (bad girl!) you’d be reminded to not spend that money.

3. Shop with a list. ALWAYS. Stick to the list. ALWAYS. Check the flyer first, ALWAYS.

4. When you’re online shopping, instead of adding it straight to your shopping basket, save it to a wishlist. Most of them will wound up impulse buys. So check the wishlist in two weeks - if you still want it, go ahead…get it if it’s in your budget.

5. Freeze your credit cards. Spend what you have, not what you will have. That’s a Chinese proverb, actually, taught to me by my grandmother. A friend taught me an alternative - put it in a zip-lock baggie, fill it up with water, and put it in the back of the freezer. So it’s still there for a rainy day, but impulse buys will have to wait.

6. Pay yourself. No, seriously. You’ve got to have money for fun. Budgeting is like a diet - you’re more likely to binge if you deprive yourself. So DO budget for entertainment and clothes, or even your morning coffee, just make sure you take it out in cash and don’t use that bankcard. Saving it nice, but put aside some money for a splurge on dinner once a week or a movie day out on Tuesdays.

And finally, here’s a download for you. Sample Budget - Excel file.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 6th, 2005 at 3:01 pm and is filed under Home Productivity. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.