Expense management through Microsoft Excel

[Mystic Eric]

Hey. There are some computer wizzes on our board and I was wondering if anyone developed a good template to input spending and income for microsoft excel? I downloaded the one from the website and it kinda sucks and I'm not good enough in excel nor creative enough to make my own. Can anyone give me theirs?

[WestyHeadbanger]

Microsoft Money. :)

[Mystic Eric]

EH???

[Joe Black]

Have a look through some of these programs

http://download.com.com/3120-20-0.html?qt=personal+expenses&tg=dl-2001

There’s a few excel add ons there actually.

[Mystic Eric]

Thanks Daniel. Have you tried any of them? I downloaded a couple and they weren't anything special. I might have to try to make my own... none of those satisfy me.

I'm not exactly the most creative person in the world so I'm gonna have to sit down and plan this out. Any tips?

[Joe Black]

I havenlt tried any of them.

hmm, Anthony uses a program that he raves about, it might be quickbooks, but I will check with him and get back to you.

[ThreeD]

If I'd have to pick one, I'd go for MS Money, but the best is still to use a book or something!

[Mystic Eric]

Bah!! What is this "microsoft money" everyone is raving about and where do I get it?

[IceRgrrl]

If you're trying to get a handle on your expenses, you might want to try the old notebook trick...get a small notebook and note every dollar you spend and what you spent it on every day for a month. Then take a look at the month's worth of info and see where your money is going. You might want to group all entries into general categories like housing, utilities, groceries, entertainment, eating out/take-out/fast food, clothing, school supplies, etc. Then you can make some sort of realistic budget as well as target areas where you need to cut back.

It sounds really simple, but it's very very enlightening. For example, you might find that take-out/eating out/etc. is costing way more than your monthly groceries so you may decided to eat at home more often and go out once a week or whatever. Or you might find that little things here and there that you don't consider really add up to a lot of money gone.

Once you have an idea of how much you can/should spend on different categories, you can set up a budget and track your expenses against a goal or target and each month you can see how you did and adjust accordingly.

I think it's awesome that you are thinking about this now. Most people have no idea where their money goes each month OR they think they know, and they really don't. Figuring out how to budget your funds is a skill that pays off big-time later in life!

[Y2A]

I created one that I use as a checkbook for my bank account, it has a description space, deposit column, withdrawal column, and keeps a running total. Is that what youre looking for?

[Wikked1]

Got MS Access Dude?
If so you can use a Wizard and create your own expenses database....no fuss no muss and very little work.......but you gotta have MS Access.

[Mystic Eric]

Y2A, send yours over to me. I think you might be able to attach it.

Wikked, I have access. Do you have a template set up?

[Praetorian]

get microsoft money. its uber. i believe it comes with XP, mine did!

[zlatan24]

Hey. There are some computer wizzes on our board and I was wondering if anyone developed a good template to input spending and income for microsoft excel? I downloaded the one from the website and it kinda sucks and I'm not good enough in excel nor creative enough to make my own. Can anyone give me theirs?
For me excel files are very important and in this case I tried to use it safely. Rather I had an unusual situation couple days ago, all my excel files were damaged. I was distressed. But unexpectedly my friend called me up and told about different funny things. I was distracted from my thoughts. And after that I entered on the Inet and retrieved - corrupt xls file (http://www.recoverytoolbox.com/how_to_repair_xls_files_of_office_2003.html). The program resolved my answer for seconds and completely free of cost.

[kzk464s]

I use Quicken and am very pleased with it. I have XP and I don't believe MS Money came on my computer.

[ncsuLuke]

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