Hey yall, I usually post on r/povertyfinance- but i wanted to share this here too.
So- What is this budget spreadsheet? Why is it different from other budgeting tools?
I grew up poor and with ZERO sense of what it means to save. On the contrary- when i first started making money i would spend it on things i considered tangible stuff because money felt fleeting. To this day i still do that. I would always try to use different budgeting tools- but the truth is that most of them are set up for people who know how to save. I didn't. I also have ADHD and with my brain its very hard to focus too much on the future and i tend to impulse buy if i'm not careful. By making it so that i only have one number i need to focus on I can simplify the process and give myself ONE thing to focus on while allocating fund to what i need.
This sheet is set up to be :
- easy to use
- focused on a daily budget as opposed to long term
- a good place to start when you have never been able to or had to save before
Its made to focus on giving you a daily limit to your spending. Instead of focusing on where to allocate your money it works on the principal that as long as you remember to not go over your daily spending limit, you will be saving money passively. It gives you a definite number to limit yourself to- allowing you to focus on allocating funds to what they are really needed for. I know this is much more simple than other sheet- its not the most comlpex or thorough sheet out there, but it is simple. The focus on simplicity is deliberate. I want this to be seen as a place to start. This may not be the best long term budgeting tool (and honestly I would like feedback to make it a better long term tool) but it is a good beginning and introduction to budgeting.
Heres what the sheet looks like
You use it like this
- Go in
- Make a copy
- Change the numbers
- Decide what percentage of your income you want to be saving
- Budget.
The sheet includes three charts:
- A bar graph as a simple visual tool to see if you are spending more than you are saving
- A pie chart to see where your money is distributed
- A daily Pie chart to see realistically where your money is going compared to your target savings
I don't work well with a lot of budgets because i have issues imagining the big picture. By giving myself a daily/weekly/monthly budget i can make sure that on any given day i haven't spent more than im allowed to- and if i so i can see where im borrowing from or where that money is supposed to come from.
You can Find the Budget Here Edit: all Images in the spreadsheet are from vecteezy
Submitted October 15, 2018 at 04:13PM by Celesmeh https://ift.tt/2pTE2Cf
