This can vary from nearly nothing all the way to several hundred dollars, depending on the complexity of the program and your personal needs.Ĭategories help to organize your budget. Pricing: Last, but by no means least, is the price.If that’s the case, you might want a program that specializes in creating graphs quickly or a template that automatically builds and updates them for you. Perhaps you’re someone who really loves charts and graphs (more on those later). Additional features: While most spreadsheets use a common cell-based organization system, some of them offer unique additional features that may be worth considering.Highly stylized templates may look cool, but can become distracting and difficult to work with from a practical standpoint. Layout and legibility: If you’re going to use and update this spreadsheet regularly, it helps to ensure that its layout lets you easily track your data.
Are features you need to use hidden away in hard-to-find places? Are the menus overly complicated? Choosing a program or template that’s confusing to use or requires advanced knowledge from novice users can frustrate your budgeting efforts.
Choose a spreadsheet program or template.Here are some steps that may help when building your own budget: It can help you track your income and expenses, identify areas where you might be able to save money and give you a more detailed view of your financial habits.Ĭreating an effective budget spreadsheet is often the first step toward taking greater control over your financial destiny. When it comes to managing your finances effectively, a budget spreadsheet may prove to be one of the most accessible tools in your arsenal.