Need a spreadsheet for tracking spending - bimonthly paychecks

[Tradd]

I readily admit my spreadsheet skills are for the birds (when it comes to formulas - I have NO clue how to do them)!

All the budget spreadsheets, etc., I come across are for tracking monthly expenses. That doesn't work for me. Never has and I've made myself just nuts lately trying to do monthly budgeting. I get paid twice a month (15th and 30th). I have always budgeted that way. What I really don't like about the monthly budgeting sheets is that they include money I've not got yet!

I just want a simple spreadsheet broken down for the two paychecks a month, that allows me to put in any number of expense line items, and then record the actual spent amounts. I want it to subtract how much $$ are left after I've entered an amount.

If it's in Apple's Numbers spreadsheet software, so much the better!

Can anyone help me?

Thanks!

[kib]

What is it you're trying to accomplish? Are you concerned about totaling different categories, or just concerned about your balance? Would a simple checkbook register do it??

http://www.vertex42.com/ExcelTemplat...checkbook.html

[Tradd]

Hey Kib, I'm concerned about different categories. I want to be able to track my actual spending against budgeted.

[jp1]

It sounds pretty straightforward, but the only apple things I own are iphones, ipads and ipods. So unfortunately I'd only be able to do it in excel, or probably apache open office. (I've never worked with formulas in open office but could probably figure it out without too much trouble.) If you can verify that the formulas will translate to apple numbers I'd be willing to do it for you. It's probably a half hour to an hour job.

[SteveinMN]

I would suggest taking a tour at the OpenOffice template site. LibreOffice, which, in a way, succeeded OpenOffice, has a template site here. All of these templates will open and be save-able in Numbers.

The Vertex42 templates, in particular, are well done. I've used a few of them for various purposes. This one looks like it could be adapted for biweekly periods without too much effort (probably just changing some column headings and some formulas from 30 days to 14).

[cdttmm]

What about taking a monthly spreadsheet format that you like and understand and simply re-labeling it to make it bi-monthly?

For example, instead of having 12 copies for year (January, February, March, etc.) you create 24 copies for the year (January 15, January 30, February 15, February 28, March 15, March 30, etc.).

I'm assuming that you allot money from one monthly paycheck to pay rent, for example, and the other monthly paycheck to pay car insurance. Which means your spreadsheets will have $0s in those spaces every other time, but I don't think that really matters. In fact, I think that might be what you're trying to accomplish.

[lessisbest]

Check the Dave Ramsey web site for some budgeting tools: http://www.daveramsey.com/everydollar/ They may have exactly what you need.

I've dealt with bi-monthly income and bill paying for decades without a spread sheet. I was using this method long before I had a computer, and when I got my first computer I tried to track it all on a spread sheet and found it just one more unnecessary step because the paper and pencil method still worked the quickest and most efficient, for me anyway. I made a payment chart on a 1/2 sheet of standard (8-1/2"x11") typing paper (two charts out of one sheet of paper - 4 charts if you print it on both sides of the paper), which attaches to a 9x6-inch manila envelope with a butterfly paper clip (make one 1/2-sheet for each month, or 2 months if you use the back). I put the bills, payment booklets, envelopes for collecting money for groceries, insurance, etc. in the envelope.

When we were living paycheck-to-paycheck I used envelopes for saving money for non-monthly things, like car insurance. The car insurance was paid twice a year, so I divided the amount due by 6 and placed the amount of money in the envelope each month so I would have it when it came due. I always had several envelopes in my 9x6-inch manila envelope, including my grocery money. Now, I know pretty close to how much those items cost each year, and I divided that amount by 24 and I deposit that amount each pay period into my savings account and transfer it as needed to the checking when one of the large payments are due. Now, we live on 1/3 of hubby's income and we bank 2/3, but I still set aside that bill money like clockwork.

At the end of each year, when I prepare for the new year, I transfer all the non-monthly payment amounts to the month they are due -- car insurance, annual service agreements, vehicle tags/taxes, home insurance, property tax, eye appointments (so I can set aside the co-pay and the expense of the new glasses), etc.

The best advise I can give is to save enough money so you are always at least one pay period ahead (and even better if you have enough for 3-6 months ahead in case of an emergency) so you know you can cover your bills. This allows you to pay immediately and not run the chance of having costly late fee charges.

My chart looks like this:
Month/Year (at the top)

Item - column for amount due - column for date due - box to check it off when it's been paid

All things that are on automatic payment have a * in front of the item.