Where are the best Expense Spreadsheets?

[donheff]

Maybe we are over thinking this exercise. When I did this 10+ years ago, I pulled some random list like Midpack's from the interwebs and found that it prodded me to think of pretty much everything I spent money on, regularly and intermittently. I looked through it in conjuction with a year or two's worth of CC statements and checking ledgers. It predicted my ER situation quite accurately and I have never needed to revisit the exercise. Let's face it, this is actually a pretty simple thing to do. What we can't do is accurately predict the outliers that can come around to bite us in the butt. Those we just have to "fudge factor" based on what has happened to others.

 

[Idnar7]

I use YNAB (you need a budget) software. I just use it for tracking expenses. It is easy to add/delete categories and also to re-categorize past transactions. At one time I broke down category Groceries into Food and Supplies. After a couple months I realized it took a lot of effort and wasn't gaining me any useful information. If you need toilet paper or toothpaste you are going to buy it anyway. So I went back to only Groceries and it was easy to re-categorized. Each month I transfer the totals to a spreadsheet. Each year I start with a clean slate. This makes it easy to back to get into details. I have been doing this for 6 years and have never upgraded the software.

 

[ERD50]

You're making me feel like a simple-minded fool. I track expenses in just ten categories, and only five of them have subcategories.

If you are a simple minded fool, then this must be the cat typing, because I must not have the mental capacity for it!

I have only one category - total amount I spend each year.

OK, maybe two of you include an estimate for the 'phantom expense' of car replacements. Since we pay cash I amortize that out over the expected life of the cars, and consider it 'spent'.

edit/add: OK, to answer the Spreadsheet/SW question, let me add this - I simply use a spreadsheet to add up the withdraws from the two accounts that we pay bills from. I add back in any reimbursed expenses or any 'transfers' (IRA contributions - not 'spent', simply transferred; and mortgage principal). Very simple. BTW, I would recc LibreOffice over OpenOffice - essentially the same, but the LibreOffice branch seems to be getting more support these days.

https://www.libreoffice.org/

I have yet to see the advantage of breaking it down in detail. We don't thoughtlessly buy things, and our annual spend hasn't really increased in the past ten years (though kids have been leaving the house).

But what do I gain if I learn I spend $X in some category? I'm currently spending that because it is valuable to me. If it wasn't, I wouldn't. And since it is, I don't want to cut it.

Now, if I suddenly felt my spending was out of control, I think the approach I would take is to just look at the expenditures I have control over. Not sure history is all that important for that. Examples:

Time to pay the cell phone bill - Hmmmm, could I get by with a lower cost plan?

Time to pay the electric bill - Hmmmm, am I wasting electricity?

Time to fill up the tank - Hmmmmm, am I driving conservatively, is my CEL on, are my tires inflated, can I car-pool or reduce trips?

Time to do the grocery shopping - Hmmmm, let's see if my choices are really a good value...

etc, etc,. Really doesn't have much to do with a detailed history, as far as I can see. And we already ask those questions regularly, so what am I going to learn and act on?

-ERD50

 

[RetireAge50]

No categories here. I have accounting degree but all the categorizing soon bored me so make money other ways now.

 

[tmm99]

This year, I am using PearBudget (spreadsheet type - free from PearBudget that I've used in the past but now I have it on Skydrive so I can access it from anywhere) and Mint both.

 

[robnplunder]

Have lots of money (relatively speaking) and thinking I live well below my means, but I've got to prove it to myself. I tried looking at Jeff Yeager's worksheet, but it is in a newer Excel format and being the cheapskate I am I don't have the latest Excel.

I burst out laughing when I read this part . I am in the same camp. Actually, I use Openoffice to save even more money. I use my own spreadsheet to keep things simple.

 

[Tandemlovers]

Two spindles... "to pay"... "paid"



Folders:



-food

-upkeep

-taxes

-utilities

-electronics

-car

-health

-fun

-misc



once a year

Imoldernu, my system is a notch more complicated, but not by much.
I use a pencil and a budget book, available from an office supply store.

Doesn't require me to turn the computer on to reference it, though I do check
bank and credit card balances daily and record my transactions.

 

[pb4uski]

FWIW, I have the following categories in my budget spreadsheet:

Housing	Mortgage
Housing	Home Insurance
Housing	Property Taxes
Housing	Propane
Housing	Firewood
Housing	Electricity
Housing	Snowplowing
Housing	Maintenance and repairs
Household	Food and groceries
Household	Gardening
Household	Spending money
Household	Clothing
Household	Gifts
Household	Donations
Transportation	Maintenance and repairs
Transportation	License fees
Transportation	Gasoline
Transportation	Car insurance
Transportation	Boat insurance
Transportation	Jet-ski insurance
Transportation	Snowmobile insurance
Personal and Health Care	Doctors
Personal and Health Care	Dentists
Personal and Health Care	Prescription Drugs
Communications	Telephone
Communications	Mobile Phone
Communications	Television
Communications	Internet
Personal Insurance	Long Term Care Insurance
Personal Insurance	Health Insurance
Personal Insurance	Health Insurance Subsidy
Personal Insurance	Dental Insurance
Personal Insurance	Umbrella Insurance
Recreation and entertainment	Travel
Recreation and entertainment	Sewing
Recreation and entertainment	Skiing
Recreation and entertainment	Snowmobiling
Recreation and entertainment	Golfing
Recreation and entertainment	Hockey
Recreation and entertainment	Movies
Recreation and entertainment	Dining Out
Miscellaneous	Miscellaneous

I then do the budget for each category in total and then allocate the annual budget to three silos: Required, Essential and Discretionary (and they total to ~65%, ~25% and ~10%, respectively). I don't really use those three silos for much other than to get a sense of if I had to belt tighten how much wiggle room there might be in my expenses.

I use the same categories for tracking expenses in Quicken. I do NOT bother with the silos for Quicken because each category is in only one silo so I could do an analysis easily if I wanted to.

Hope that helps.

 

[target2019]

Where does one go to download the spreadsheet discussed in the first post?
Thanks.

 

[rbmrtn]

I think this was the one referred to http://lucasliterary.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/Retirement-Worksheet.xlsx

 

[target2019]

I think this was the one referred to http://lucasliterary.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/06/Retirement-Worksheet.xlsx

Thanks. From what I see in the way of limitations saving to the older format, it is not worth the trouble.

 

[ETFs_Rule]

OpenOffice.org FREE

 

[PERSonalTime]

Does anyone know if it's possible to export information for the 2003 version of Quicken (I know I'm actually embarrassed asking) into the latest version? If it's possible, how is it done?