We Put the "Bud" in Budgeting

Ever since we got married, Johnny and I have been big budgeters.  That doesn't necessarily mean that we always make great financial decisions, but we do try to stick to a pretty strict budget.  We've tried a few different budgeting websites and quickly found that none of them worked for us.  They were all too complicated or had too many categories or squirreled away different expenses without us knowing.  

So, Johnny, being the Excel spreadsheet loving guy that he is, made a really simple spreadsheet that we use for all of our budgets.  I thought I would share it with you all here.

A slight tutorial:

First of all, the numbers are not our actual budget; they are just numbers that I plugged in.  

• There are two sheets as shown at the bottom of the spreadsheet.  The first one shows you what you have budgeted for the month in each category and how much is left in that budget.  The second sheet is where you plug in all your spending.
• On the second sheet, you simply type in the date of your purchase, what/where you purchased, the category it fits under, how much it cost (negative for spending money, positive for making money), and (if you want) what you used to buy it with.
• If you want different numbers or categories, simply erase what we have and plug in your own information. 
• For a new month, just copy and paste columns A, B, and C from sheet one underneath all of your spending on sheet two.  This will add new money to your budgets and start you over fresh for the next month.

This type of budget takes a little bit of work since you have to keep up with everything that you're spending, but it really helps you realize how much is going out and how much is coming in.  Enjoy!