How to Draw Up a Budget Using Microsoft Excel

Using Microsoft Excel greatly simplifies the management of your budget. By setting up your budget as a Microsoft Excel worksheet, you can make updates and changes very easily. Making one simple change in the worksheet will not require you to recalculate any of your figures. This is accomplished by using special formulas in the spreadsheet. Follow the directions below to see just how easy it is to manage a budget done in Excel.

To begin you will need to open a new Microsoft Excel Worksheet. First, click on "My Documents". Then click on "File", then click on "New". Next click on "Microsoft Excel Worksheet". You now have a blank Microsoft Excel worksheet to input your budget into.

You will notice that each column of the Microsoft Excel worksheet is labeled with the letters of the alphabet and each row is labeled with consecutive numbers. In this way, each individual cell is referred to by its corresponding letter and number. For example, the first cell is referred to as A1. You can move your location around on the worksheet either by using your mouse or your arrow keys. You will notice that as you move around the worksheet, the cell reference indicated at the top of the worksheet will change according to your location.

You should begin by listing your expenses in the first column of your Microsoft Excel worksheet. For a basic budget you might begin with putting the name of your first expense in cell A5. To do this you would simply arrow over to cell A5 and type in the name of your first expense and hit "enter". Then type in your next expense in cell A6 and continue down the column entering in the names of all of your expenses. When you have completed entering the names of all of your expenses you should enter "total" as the name of the last cell in the column. Next you should label the top of each column with the months of the year. Begin by typing in "Jan". in cell B4, then "Feb." in cell B4. Continue labeling all the months of the year and then label the top of the next column "total".

Now the labels of your budget are complete and you can begin to enter in your budget figures. If your first expense is "mortgage", fill in the budgeted amount for that category in each column for every month of the year. Then continue down until all of the budgeted expense amounts have been entered for every month.

You are now ready to calculate the totals of each of your columns and rows. Let's begin by calculating the total expenses for each month. In the first cell next to the "total" label, you will enter a formula that will calculate the total of all of your January expenses. The great thing about this formula is that if you later change one of your expense figures for January, the total will automatically be updated.

The formula you enter will vary slightly depending on how many expenses you have. If you had a total of 20 different expenses, this is the formula you would type in "=SUM(B4.B23)" and then hit "enter". You will notice that this cell will now contain the sum of all of the numbers entered in the column from cell B4 through B23. If you had more expenses you would change the B23 to whatever cell contained the last of your expense figures.Next you will copy this formula from the cell of the Jan. total to the cells for the totals for each month of the year. Begin by making sure you are on the cell you want to copy. Next, click on "Edit" on the toolbar at the top of your page. Then click on "Copy". The cell you are on will now be flashing. Now hold down your "Shift" key and arrow over highlighting all of the cells you want to copy the formula into. Lastly hit "enter" and your formula will now be copied into each of the cells. These cells will now show the totals of each of your expenses by month.

Next you will want to calculate the yearly total of each of your expenses. To do this, go to the row after Dec. labeled "total". In this cell, type in this formula: "=SUM(B4+B5+B6+B7+B8+B9+B10+B11+B12+B13+B14+B15)" and then hit "enter". You will notice that this cell now contains the sum of all expenses for your first category for each month of the year. Next you will copy this formula into all the cells of that column.

You now have your complete budget with monthly totals and totals for each expense category. You can save your budget by clicking on "File", then "Save As". A small window will appear where you can type in the name of your Microsoft Excel worksheet. A good name might be "2007 Budget". Next, click "enter" and your worksheet will be saved.

You can now easily see how changing some of your expense figures will affect your overall budget. Give it a try. Chose a variable expense such as "grocery" and see how your whole budget can change simply by changing one single expense. In this way you can rework your budget continuously with very little effort.

A Microsoft Excel Worksheet is the perfect place to do your budget.