Organize It: Family Finances Day 4

A few words before we begin Day 4 of Organize It: Family Finances.

Thanks for joining me on this journey.  I have been so amazed at how many people have visited this little blog. Thank you for the love!

Budgeting is hard work.  It takes patience, perseverance and endurance to get it completed.  I wish a budget would fall from a tree, land in my hand, enter itself into a spreadsheet and be updated monthly.  Since money (or budgets) don't grow on trees, we have to do the hard work.  #lifelessonfortoday

You are following along on this journey.  You are making time for your family finances.  You are putting time and effort in a not-so-glamorous part of organizing your home.  But make no mistake, this is a crucial part of organizing your home.  So hang in there.  This is the last day of the "grit" portion and then onto the easy-peasy monthly updating portion. 

Now, grab your coffee and let's do Day 4!

Step 1: Today we will be entering your newly created budget from Day 3 into a spreadsheet.

Wait...did she just say spreadsheet?  I have no idea how to do that!

I have created a template spreadsheet for you to use (aren't I nice?) and ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS ENTER YOUR BUDGET IN.  No formatting cells, no creating formulas, nada.  You're welcome. 

Click to download

*Side note: the numbers on the spreadsheet are not from my personal family budget.  I just entered numbers as an example.*


Click on the bottom of the spreadsheet and you will see tabs in this order:

• Budget
• Actuals
• Monthly tabs  

Click on the Budget tab at the bottom of the spreadsheet.  I zoomed in and circled it in pink so you can see it.  

Once you are on the budget tab, you are going to enter your monthly budget totals (income and expenses) and add categories as needed.  If you add a line item and are using Excel, follow these steps:

• Highlight the row above --> Copy
• Insert --> Row
• Paste Cells

Make sure to enter your income as a positive number and your expenses as a negative number (it will show up with the parenthesis around it). 

If you need help here, I recommend research Excel help.  Just make sure to insert a full row to keep the formulas in the cells correct.

Step 2: Print out the Budget Tab page (the page is already set-up to print correctly on one page).  You will use this information to enter into Quicken as your new Budget.  You will Create New --> Create Categories and enter the monthly totals.  

I wish I had a fun image or picture to encourage you.  But really the best encouragement is knowing that you are working to make your family function at a higher level.  You are spending time on the "internal" portion of your family finances but just you wait... tomorrow there is going to be an ADORABLE printable for the cover of your new Budget Binder.  Yep, A.D.O.R.A.B.L.E. 

I'd love to hear how you are progressing on this journey.  Please comment below so we can keep in touch.  Thanks!