Hey guys! last year I made a spreadsheet to help myself financial plan- I'm terrible at sticking to a financial plan so I made a sheet that breaks it down so that I just have the ability to break it down to a daily manageable amount.
I grew up very poor and had NO sense of what or even HOW to start budgeting. I was taught that money would disappear if I didn't use it, so I just USED it. Even now I still feel anxiety about money and can spend recklessly if I'm not careful. Another problem I faced is that I have ADHD, so impulse control can be hard, and it can also be hard to keep track of every purchase and focus on a bunch of aspects of a financial plan. This spreadsheet is made so you only focus on ONE number.
The sheet was set up with three goals in mind:
- that it be easy to use
- that it focuses on a daily financial plan that supports long term goals- instead of a long term financial plan that doesn't have daily support
- that it be a good starting place for people who have never saved before
So how does it work?
The main financial plan is divided into three core areas:
- revenue: You use this to fill in your revenue and choose to have a monthly, weekly, or bi-weekly pay cycle. If you are a worker who is tipped it includes an area where you can add tips, my suggestion is put in your minimum average revenue from tips- So for example, if you usually make 100 from tips a week, even if you get extra, try to program your financial plan around the 100 minimum average.
- costs: There you can add your costs. Utilities are bills that are for electricity, heat, telephone, internet, or water. Bills are important costs that you can't miss and are integral to living. Finally, costs are other things you need to allocate money for- whether it be gas, lunch costs, transportation- ect. Within your costs there are TWO areas to which you need to pay attention:-loan Card Payments: this is new to this year's sheet, use the tab below to fill out your information for up to three loan cards. Decide whether to pay the minimum payment OR choose an amount to pay. The tab will allow you to see how much you're paying and how much debt charge you're accruing. Once you have filled it out, your financial plan will adjust accordingly.-Big Purchase: Use this tab to create a financial plan for a large purchase, and adjust your financial plan easily and automatically to money management this purchase!
- financial plan summary: Finally the most important part of this sheet is the financial plan summary- Here you will see just how much you can spend. This money is shown in three ways, the lump monthly sum, a weekly amount, or a daily amount. As long as you don't go over that number, you will have enough money for the rest of your financial plan. It will also feature a breakdown of what your financial plan it, where your money is going, and what your revenue VS spending is!
ou use it like this
- Go in
- Make a copy
- Change the numbers
- Decide what percentage of your revenue you want to be saved
- financial plan.
The sheet includes three charts:
- A bar graph as a simple visual tool to see if you are spending more than you are saving
- A pie chart to see where your money is distributed
- A daily Pie chart to see realistically where your money is going compared to your target savings
I don't work well with a lot of budgets because I have issues imagining the big picture. By giving myself a daily/weekly/monthly financial plan I can make sure that on any given day I haven't spent more than I'm allowed to- and if I do i can see where I'm borrowing from or where that money is supposed to come from.
NOTE: All Images in the spreadsheet are from vecteezy
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