ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUV
1
2
3
How I think about the finances
Setting up sheet
4
5
Am I living within my means?

As I update each month's expenses, I see how it's going in overall buckets. If I'm over one month, I can see whether I'm adjusting in the later months, rather than belaboring what's already happened.		Where do I tend to spend?

As I update each month's expenses, Budget's column D will flag where I'm spending over or under the budget estimates. 		What's left after expenses?

Smaller goal amounts I might keep in the checking account, but larger pieces can move into investments or retirement		Am I on track?

Seeing %'s helps motivate me more than a specific amount 		1)
Update the pre-tax income bit at top of Overview sheet

This is helpful for rule of thumbs that are based on pre-tax income (eg: save 12-15% of your pre-tax income)
6
2)
Update the post-tax take home $$ at top of the Budget sheet
7
3)
Update estimates down column B in Budget.
Trips and Goals estimates are references from Planned spending sheet's year's sum
8
4)
Some fields include variables, like the Retirement estimate %'s for how much you take out of your paycheck, employer match
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100