Microsoft Excel is used by many businesses to track spending, create databases and chart data such as sales and growth percentages. You might not realise, though, that Excel can also help you manage your household. Microsoft offers many free templates that can help you get a handle on things around the house as well as at work. By downloading and completing a monthly household budget, you can plan, track and better control your family's spending.
- Microsoft Excel is used by many businesses to track spending, create databases and chart data such as sales and growth percentages.
Open Excel. If you are using Excel 2007, click the "Office Button" and then click "New." In Excel 2003, click "File" and then "New." Type "Family Monthly Budget" in the "Search Online For" box and click "Go."
Click "Family Monthly Budget Planner" to select that template. Click the "Download" button. The template will open as a new Excel worksheet.
Start in the "Projected Cost" column. Type in what you expect the costs to be for each item listed that month. You can round off your costs to whole numbers, or put in exact numbers and the template will round them off for you. If you are uncertain how much you might spend on an item, look at past bills or receipts and make an estimate.
- Click "Family Monthly Budget Planner" to select that template.
- Type in what you expect the costs to be for each item listed that month.
Enter the information into the "Total Actual Cost" column as the month goes along. Every time you spend money or pay a bill, enter the amount into the correct cell. If you already have a number in that cell, add the 2 numbers together and enter the new number into the cell. The template will automatically calculate the difference between your projected and actual spending.
- Enter the information into the "Total Actual Cost" column as the month goes along.
- Every time you spend money or pay a bill, enter the amount into the correct cell.
Enter your projected monthly income at the beginning of the month. As you earn money throughout the month, enter this data into the cells in "Actual Monthly Income." Your household budget template will help you see what you actually have coming in and where it is going.
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Save the budget with the month and year added to it by clicking "File" or the "Office Button" and choosing "Save As." Every month save the budget with the new month's name and clear the past month's information.