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How to Use (revised for actual sheet structure)
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This tracker has three sheets. Here is what each one does.
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Sheet 1: How to Use
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You are reading it. Come back here if you get confused.
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Sheet 2: Income and expense entries
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This is where you log every transaction. One row per entry.
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Date - the date the transaction happened
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Month - which month it belongs to. Useful when you log transactions a day or two late
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Amount - the rupee amount. Always positive, no negatives
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Category - pick from the dropdown. The category list is on the right side of this sheet. Do not type a custom category here - it will break the Dashboard formulas. If you need a new category, add it to the list on the right first
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Income / Expense - the dropdown will show Income, Expense, Investments, or Self-Transfer. Self-Transfer is for money moving between your own accounts (salary to savings, SIP debit, credit card payment) - this should not count as an expense
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Account - which account the money moved from or to. Primary Account, Savings Account, etc.
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Description - optional, but worth filling in for anything above ₹500 so you remember what it was three months later
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The category reference table on the right is fixed. Keep it consistent across months or your year-to-date totals will break.
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Sheet 3: Dashboard
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Do not edit this sheet manually. It pulls everything from your entries automatically.
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The top section shows a year-to-date monthly breakdown - income, expenses, investments, and amount saved, month by month with totals and averages. This is where patterns become visible across the year.
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The bottom section shows a category breakdown for the selected month. Change the month using the dropdown next to the Month field. You will see income by source, expenses by category, and investments by type - all pulled from your entries.
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The Balance field shows what is left after expenses. This is your real number for the month.
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Practical tips
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At the end of each day, open PhonePe or GPay, scroll through your transactions, and log anything you missed. Two minutes once you build the habit. For cash transactions, note the amount and category in Google Keep immediately - cash is the easiest to forget.
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Make a copy of this file before you start entering data. Keep the original blank as a backup template.
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Do not delete the sample row in the entries sheet before understanding the format - use it as a reference, then clear it when you are ready to begin.
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