Household Budget Template and Tutorial (Excel) 2020 Update 

Thanks for the kind words, Connor :) Glad you like it!

I have some trouble downloading the blank version, would you happen to have a copy that I could share? Thanks!

Hey Daniel, I'm just starting to use this template to get a handle of my personal finances. Out of curiosity, are there any tweaks you've made that you'd recommend?

@@vaughnsmith5337 Besides a cosmetic overhaul (not necessary but being a graphic designer I couldn't help myself 😅), I added a few additional tabs. Most of this is information you'll already be plugging in other tabs so if it's overwhelming, stick with George's. 1. Subscriptions tab - (streaming TV, music, gym, insurance, cell phone etc.) It's modeled after the Expenses tab and includes columns for First bill, Duration, Place, Monthly Price, PMT, Account, Expense, Cycle, Nec/Lux, and Explanation. It's a great resource to know what I'm still subscribed to and should cancel but also know upcoming bills and watch for price increases etc. 2. Year in Review - (each year has a tab to reference). Rows are the categories, columns are months. First block is projected (I fill this out in December year prior referencing the summary tab and previous years then adjusting), then Actual (I fill this out each month--it pulls the data straight from the Expenses tab) then Difference (subtracts the two). It's a great way to see how far off I was. I have a whole separate Excel document for keeping track of work expenses/charitable donations etc. but you could add a column (or an option under Nec/Lux that's "Work Expenses") in Expenses to track that. I also have a Budget Pie tab and a way to round up each purchase similar to the Acorns feature for savings, but those are just personal things.

@@danielharmon15 Thank you for the suggestions! 😁

Thanks for the kind words, Carlos! Glad you like it, and good luck! :)

Thanks for the kind words, Deepika! So glad you like it! :)

No problem! Thanks for the kind words :) So glad you found the template and video helpful.

No problem! Glad you like it, and good luck! :)

Awesome! Glad you like it, and good luck! :)

Sean! Great to hear from you! Thanks for commenting on here, and good luck!

Thanks for the kind words, Kris! :) Best wishes in the new year.

Thanks for the kind words, Benjamin! Good luck!

Thanks for the kind words, Dan! :)

​@@georgemhayward Any advice on extracting monthly averages by category? Pivot table with slicer would be cool.

Hi Marco! Thanks so much for the kind words :) Good luck!

Hi Ginny! Thanks for your comment, and I'm sorry for the slow response (we have a newborn!). I'm sorry to hear about your husband, as well. That sounds really difficult. Do you still have the same problem with the template? If so, I'm happy to help if you could provide some details as to what is going on. I do plan to make more videos soon! I just finished a graduate program and we had a baby, so I'm a bit behind on things, but I should be back to a routine soon.

George Hayward Thank you for your good wishes. I understand how much time baby & work are taking up at the moment -been there too! I am very slowly getting to grips with your template. The Schedule which feeds the graphs is the one giving me the most aggravation now- not to worry. I am learning so much. But look forward when you can explain that one too? Hope lockdown is not too hard for you & family. I miss getting out & about as am one of the ‘vulnerables’ 😘

@@ginnyjones2937 We certainly miss getting out, too! Definitely tough times. Happy to explain - what are you curious about with the graphs?

Hi George, Thank you for the video and template. I definitely intend to download it and folllow the rest of your videos. And congratulations on bambino and thanks for keeping this all ticking over. Well done you.My situation is what they would call in SINGAPORE the “same, same but different “ situation to Ginny’s. My condolences Ginny. I too have lost my husband who insisted on handling all our finances mainly trying to lighten my load as I am disabled. The DIFFERENT in my situation is that my husband was obviously terrible with money and got us into real trouble. I need to get my finances back on track asap and being disabled siting at a desk entering data is very difficult for me. I hate to admit it but I also have difficulty with memory and concentration due to severe pain and medications. Am I aiming too high with your template? I was hoping to have automatic downloads of data from my bank. Is that possible? Did your template track the difference between actual spending and budgeted spending? Can it automatically carry forward creating future spreadsheets while saving thee past ones? I am looking forward to learning. I was going to try to build my own spreadsheet but yours might just be the answer to my problems as long as I don’t need to spend long hours laboriously and mindlessly entering data? What do you think is this my answer?

Hi George. Back with your template. I can’t find a video of the Projections tab. Could you please send me a link? Thank you. Hope you and new family member are well x

Hi Tonya! I'm so glad this looks useful to you. Thanks for the comment and good luck! :)

Thank you! So glad to hear. Good luck!

Thanks so much, Sergii! :)

Thanks for the kind words! I feel the same way about keeping it free...definitely want to help people first and foremost.

Thank you! :) And good luck! It took me years of a lot of trial and error to learn Excel, but it's such a great tool and will be worth the time!

Thanks for the kind words, Luis! :)

No problem! Thank you for the comment :)

Thank you! So glad you like it :)

Haha thanks! I don't have a tip jar but there are donation links in the description! That's about as close I could get, ha. Glad you like the workbook and I hope it will be useful to you.

Thanks so much, Scott! :) (Also, sorry for the slow reply.)

I'm having the same issue and just started using this

Hi Oliver, and thanks for your question. I plan to make a separate video on that sheet soon (just had a baby and finished grad school so I'm a bit behind!), but the basic idea is to first make sure all tables are fully expanded, then drag the bottom right corner outward. You'll have to manually adjust headings. For the top-most table, you'll also have to drag across the formulas, and may need to adjust them. Does that help at all?

Thank you! :)

No problem! Glad you like it :)

Hi Dekel, thanks for your question. The only way I know how to change the currency is the manual way, but it is pretty simple and should only take a few seconds. What error are you receiving with the financial year? I haven't come across any errors with that.

Hi Tamar, and thanks for your question. What happens after you change the lists on the Lists tab?

@@georgemhayward I was able to change"types of expenses" and "types of income" successfully but I needed to add to the Accounts column. I followed your instructions and dragged the bottom right corner downward. When I tried to select the right account only the first 5 accounts were on the drop-down menu, not the 2 I added.

Hi Chris, thanks for the comment and suggestion! I definitely agree with your first point and you are correct about that shortcoming. I have made a note on this and will try to include it in my next update (not sure when that will be, though). For the second point, I'm not quite sure what you mean by "toggle on a look up in the List tab." Are you saying have a macro or something that changes all the currency? I do agree, though, that something like this would be good! I have so far avoided macros because I'm worried about compatibility for users with older versions of Excel.

Hi Mick! Thanks for the question. There are some basic instructions at the top, but I do plan to make a separate video on that sheet. It is definitely the most complicated, though to me it's also the most helpful. In the last few months I finished graduate school and my wife had a baby, so I'm behind on the videos but hopefully they'll be coming soon!

George Hayward Thanks George it has certainly helped me thanks again looking forward to the video when it appears. I have subscribed so will be aware when it comes out.

Hi Lauren! I'm so glad you've liked the workbook. There isn't currently a way to restrict the summary data to a particular time frame (like a fiscal year), but it's the next big update I plan to do! I wanted to post the new version before the new year and just didn't have time to get to that last part, unfortunately. But hopefully soon! The Projections tab is my favorite part of the new version - I hope you'll like it too! I plan to post a video on it soon, since it's also the most complicated sheet. Happy new year!

Hi! Sorry for the slow response. The first thing you'll want to do is make sure the signs are correct on the Summary tab, since that's where all data on the Summary Graphs sheet comes from. Second, if that doesn't fix it, double click the values that show up on the bars. Something should pop up that lets you format the "data labels." There should be an option for "number." Click this and change the currency sign there (it should be a drop down menu). Let me know if that still doesn't fix it!

Hi Paul, thanks for your question. Unfortunately, I don't think this is compatible with Google Sheets, though you are welcome to try to adapt it!

If you download it to Google Drive, it will automatically convert to Google Sheets.

Hi Amy! Sorry for slow reply. Do you still have the same question? If so, what specific parts would you be interested in changing?

Change the names in the list tab

No problem! Glad you like it :) I don't have those, unfortunately. Coincidentally, I just heard about them for the first time!

George Hayward I would love to support. Those are the mobile payment options I have at the moment. Please open an account with them, I love your work!!!❤️

@@7779311sassy That's very kind and thoughtful of you! I just made a Cash App ($georgemhayward). Thanks for letting me know that this existed!

Did you happen to find this video? I was also wanting to view it.

Hi Craig! Thanks for reaching out. The link is in the description but I'll also paste it here. Good luck! georgemhayward.wixsite.com/budget