Once you’ve got the format sorted so it all lines up in whatever ways you can export it then it’s easy enough.
For projections then Lewis is definitely the man you need!
Once you’ve got the format sorted so it all lines up in whatever ways you can export it then it’s easy enough.
For projections then Lewis is definitely the man you need!
Ok, I think I can pull something together for you pretty easily if you’re just looking to manually update a few figures every month and see what impact certain changes would make long term.
Just so I’ve got a sense of exactly what info you want to be manually inputting every month, would the following be enough;
With these three values each month (plus a starting value), it would be pretty straight forward to forecast what the savings value would look like in the future. And to see what impact increasing or deceasing income/expenses/savings would have long term.
I’ll have a quick play around now and get something to you shortly.
Oh also, I suggest using google sheets rather than excel. That way it won’t go missing if your computer dies.
Thank you, that would be amazing! Yes, the three parameters you mention would be enough, or potentially slightly more granularity such as spending split into mortgage+bills/committed spending and other expenses.
We need a spreadsheet wiki somewhere on the community, I think!
So this is crude and basic but it might be a good starting point for you. Click file, save a copy, to get started. Then just have a play around and see what happens;
There are also lots of free templates online that look a lot nicer and probably do more of what you’re looking for. In particular, the budget planner from money saving expert; Budget Planner: how to manage your money - MoneySavingExpert
This looks great, thank you! And I’ll check the other link out too
Thanks @Lewis_P, I think I prefer your version as a start. How do I unlock the S/sheet so I can edit it? R-
If you go to FILE > MAKE A COPY
Then it will copy it to your Google Sheets account so you can do whatever you want with it
Thanks @Ordog. R-
Thanks for this @Lewis_P, I have saved a copy [with the help of @Ordog - think I had too many dimwit tablets] and I think this format will be helpful for my purposes. The MSE version was more of a snapshot. I’ve only just started to play around with it but first impressions are good. R-
Glad to hear it’s helpful. Make sure to check out all of the sheets (listed at the bottom). You can also see the formula I’ve used in some of the cells to try to decode what’s actually happening.
There will be a lot of pretty basic formula that are either summing up the total of adjacent cells using the ‘sum’ function and/or checking what certain cells contain using the ‘if’ function. I find those two functions alone are enough to achieve pretty much anything. Other functions generally just serve to achieve things more efficiently.
I use both those functions quite a bit in Excel so I’m partly with you. I have constructed some fairly complex s/sheets in my time, but the old grey matter is rapidly turning into scrambled egg! R-
I got this link in an email and thought you might be interested
Thank you @Rat_au_van, always helpful to get a leg up. However, I think my low level OCD is making me move towards Excel. I am much more familiar with it and the levels of categorisation the MDB gives me [once I get tags working properly] in a pivot table will suit me better. Sorry @Lewis_P. R-