Free_Budget_Net Worth_Subscription_Template.xlsx

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2	🏠 Household Budget Workbook — Start Here
3	Plan your money, import transactions, compare budget to actuals, and understand where your money went.
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5	START WITH THESE STEPS
6	1 — Save a clean copy	Keep an untouched original before changing categories, formulas, or sample transactions.
7	2 — Decide your category names	Do this before importing transactions. Category names act like matching keys across Category Map, Budget Planning, Dashboard, monthly sheets, and transaction tables. A name changed in only one place can cause missing or Uncategorized totals.
8	3 — Complete Budget Planning	Budget Planning is the master plan. Enter monthly income, expense targets, and one combined Monthly Investments amount. Dashboard and monthly pages use its category labels, while monthly pages also pull its planned amounts.
9	4 — Update keywords, then import	In Category Map, replace sample keywords with wording from your real statement descriptions. After that, import bank and card transactions and review anything marked Uncategorized.
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11	HOW THE WORKBOOK WORKS
12	1. Budget Planning	Set your monthly income and expense targets. Enter one combined planned investment total directly in each month’s yellow Monthly Investments cell. Use your own records to add together retirement, brokerage, education, HSA, or other investment contributions. Savings calculates automatically as Total Income − Total Expenses − Monthly Investments. The YTD and average columns summarize the year.
13	2. Category Map	This is the workbook’s sorting system. Add words that appear in transaction descriptions and assign each keyword to a budget category and section. More specific keywords improve automatic categorization. If a new category is needed, add it here and then add the matching row to the planning, dashboard, and monthly sheets.
14	3. Bank Transactions	Replace the sample rows with a bank CSV or Excel export. Keep the table headers in place and paste each source field into the matching column. Month, Auto-Category, Final Category, and Section update automatically. Use Override when one transaction needs a different category.
15	4. Card Transactions	Use this for credit-card exports. Paste the account, description, date, type, amount, and balance fields into the matching columns. Adjusted Amount converts charges and credits into the signs expected by the dashboard; categorization then follows the Category Map.
16	5. Dashboard	Shows actual income, expenses, investments, savings, and cumulative savings by month. It is driven by the Bank Transactions and Card Transactions tables—do not type actuals directly into this sheet. YTD totals and monthly averages update automatically.
17	6. Jan–Dec tabs	Each monthly page compares Budgeted versus Actual amounts and calculates the variance and percentage of income. Positive expense variance means spending was below budget; negative expense variance means spending exceeded budget. These pages update automatically.
18	7. Subscriptions	List recurring subscriptions and fixed commitments to understand their monthly and yearly cost. You may use the investment area as a reference for tracking individual recurring contributions, but planned monthly investment totals are entered manually on Budget Planning.
19	8. Net Worth	Enter each account or asset balance once per month. Total Assets, Total Liabilities, Net Worth, and YTD Change calculate automatically. Use consistent month-end dates so the trend is meaningful.
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21	DETAILED SETUP ORDER
22	Step 1 — Save a clean copy	Use Save As before replacing sample data so you always have an untouched template.
23	Step 2 — Customize categories	Review Category Map, rename categories if needed, and replace sample keywords with wording from your real statements.
24	Step 3 — Enter your plan	Complete the yellow input cells in Budget Planning, including one combined Monthly Investments total for each month. Add together all planned investment contributions before entering the monthly amount.
25	Step 4 — Import transactions	Delete only the sample data rows—not the table headers—then paste bank and card exports into their matching columns.
26	Step 5 — Review categorization	Filter Final Category for Uncategorized, correct keywords in Category Map, or use Override for individual exceptions.
27	Step 6 — Review outcomes	Use Dashboard for the annual view, monthly tabs for budget-versus-actual detail, and Net Worth for longer-term progress.
28	HOW TO CHANGE A CATEGORY SAFELY
29	Best option — Ask Copilot	Use the “Add or change categories” prompt below. Ask Copilot to update every related sheet and verify totals afterward. This is the safest approach.
30	Renaming an existing category	Use the exact same spelling in Budget Planning, Dashboard, all 12 monthly sheets, and both Category columns in Category Map. Existing transaction Overrides may also need to be updated.
31	Adding a new category	Add it to the correct Income, Fixed Costs, or Variable Costs section in Budget Planning, Dashboard, every monthly sheet, and the BudgetCategories list. Then add one or more Category Map keywords.
32	Deleting a category	First recategorize existing transactions and remove its keywords. Then delete the matching row consistently from Budget Planning, Dashboard, every monthly sheet, and BudgetCategories.
33	After any category change	Run a logic check, search for the old name, review Uncategorized transactions, and confirm the category appears in the correct section and month totals.
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36	WHAT THE RESULTS MEAN
37	Savings	The amount remaining after actual or planned income, expenses, and investments. A negative value means outflows exceeded income for that month.
38	Cumulative Savings	A running total of monthly Savings. It appears on Budget Planning and Dashboard so you can see the year-to-date direction without repeating it on every monthly page.
39	Variance	For income, Actual − Budgeted. For expenses, Budgeted − Actual. This makes a positive expense variance favorable and a negative expense variance an overspend.
40	Uncategorized Transactions	Transactions that did not match a Category Map keyword. Review these before relying on dashboard totals by category.
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42	ASK COPILOT OR AI FOR HELP
43	Understand the workbook	“Review this workbook and explain how Budget Planning, transaction tables, Category Map, Dashboard, monthly tabs, Subscriptions, and Net Worth connect. Point out any formula or category that does not reconcile.”
44	Add or change categories	“Help me add a new budget category called [CATEGORY]. Update Category Map, Budget Planning, Dashboard, and all monthly sheets, and make sure transactions can be assigned to it without breaking totals.”
45	Import a downloaded file	“I downloaded a CSV or Excel statement from [BANK/CARD]. Compare its columns with the Bank Transactions or Card Transactions table, tell me where each column belongs, and help me paste or transform it without overwriting formulas.”
46	Fix categorization	“Find transactions marked Uncategorized, suggest Category Map keywords based on their descriptions, and show me which rows still need a manual Override.”
47	Troubleshoot formulas	“Run a workbook logic check. Find broken references, totals that do not reconcile, monthly sheets linked to the wrong month, or formulas that were overwritten, then repair and verify them.”
48	Customize safely	“I want to change [DESCRIBE CHANGE]. Explain which sheets and formulas will be affected, make the change consistently throughout the workbook, and verify that totals still reconcile.”
49	Forecast upcoming spending	“Using my budget, transaction history, recurring commitments, and recent monthly averages, create a spending projection for the next [NUMBER] months by category. Show the assumptions, expected income, expenses, investments, savings, and any months at risk of a shortfall. Do not overwrite my source data.”
50	Plan for a future expense	“Help me plan for [EXPENSE OR GOAL] costing [AMOUNT] by [DATE]. Create a month-by-month funding plan, show which categories could be adjusted, and calculate the effect on savings and cash flow.”
51	Compare scenarios	“Create conservative, expected, and high-spending projections for the next [NUMBER] months. Compare income, expenses, investments, savings, and cumulative savings, and explain which assumptions drive the differences.”
52	Identify future risks	“Review my recent spending, recurring bills, uncategorized transactions, and budget variances. Flag upcoming months that may have cash-flow pressure and suggest practical budget adjustments without changing my workbook until I approve them.”
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54	COLOR & EDITING GUIDE
55	Yellow cells	User inputs. These are the safest places to type or paste values.
56	Formula cells	These update automatically. Avoid typing over them; ask Copilot to restore a formula if one is replaced.
57	Override columns	Use only when an individual transaction should ignore its automatic category. Leave blank to use Auto-Category.
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59	IMPORTANT IMPORT TIPS
60	Keep table headers	Do not paste over row 1 of Bank Transactions or Card Transactions. Paste data beneath the headers so table formulas can fill down.
61	Match dates and amounts	Make sure dates are real Excel dates—not text—and verify whether debits are negative or positive before relying on totals.
62	Paste values only when needed	If a downloaded file contains formulas, merged cells, or unusual formatting, paste values into a clean staging area or ask Copilot to map and import it safely.
63	Check after every import	Confirm the row count, review Uncategorized transactions, and compare total imported amounts with the original statement before making decisions.
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65	IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER
66	Educational use only	This free workbook and its accompanying content are provided for general informational and educational purposes only. They are not personalized financial, investment, tax, accounting, or legal advice.
67	No professional relationship	The creator is not acting as your financial advisor, investment advisor, accountant, tax professional, or attorney. Using this workbook or asking questions about it does not create a professional-client relationship.
68	Your responsibility	You are solely responsible for reviewing the workbook, verifying imported data and formulas, evaluating risks, and deciding whether any information is appropriate for your circumstances. Consult qualified professionals before making financial, investment, tax, or legal decisions.
69	No warranties or guarantees	The workbook is provided free of charge and “as is,” without warranties or guarantees of accuracy, completeness, fitness for a particular purpose, results, or error-free operation. Financial outcomes are not guaranteed.
70	Limitation of liability	To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, the creator is not responsible for losses, damages, errors, omissions, data loss, or decisions arising from use of or reliance on this workbook. Remove sensitive account information before sharing files or content with any AI service.
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