Rolling Total Budget

I hate running a check register at the same time I'm working my budget.  I use what I like to call a Rolling Total Budget so I can use my budget as my check register.  This is not for the faint of heart, those easily frustrated, the unorganized and it will not work for anyone unfamiliar with Excel.  I always do my budget a year in advance because I like to plan ahead for things like birthdays, a large family barbeque and Christmas shopping. 

I keep track of everything on my budget spreadsheet.  I never delete a budget and I always keep my budgets saved by the year they are/were for.  I will use 2012 as an example of how I set up a yearly budget...my 2012 budget is already completed.  I will post an example of the Rolling Total Budget and the Master I use below.

This is how I do it...

• First, I total each of my bills for the previous year individually.  I have a total for my gas bill, electric bill, water bill, etc.  This way, I can get an average monthly expenditure for bills that always change.
• Second, I have a total for each of my bills for the previous year that were constant like my car insurance, cable bill, cell phone bill (I use Cricket so it is always the same for me.), etc.
• Third, I start create a Master sheet (see below) for what I know about each bill so I can physically see each and every expenditure that I make throughout the month.  This is how I avoid missing something.
• Mortgage is always due on the 1st of the month and is always the same.
• Trash bill is always due on the 7th of the month and is always the same.
• Water bill is always due on the 15th of the month and changes monthly.
• Etc.

          After bills, I include things on the Master that 
          are easy for me to plan by date but not 
          necessarily a bill.

• Dog food must be purchased every 2 weeks.
• Hay for the horses must be purchased either weekly, bi-weekly or monthly depending on my income and how expensive the hay is. (I've figured out the seasons where hay is high and only buy it a week at a time until the price goes back down then I stock up and buy monthly.
• Propane only has to be purchased in the winter months and only every 10 days.
• Etc.

• Fourth, I start my actual budget using the Master and a calendar.
1. I put into my budget my payday amount (net income).  Some get paid weekly, some Bi-weekly, etc.  I'll use weekly in my example.
2. I put the bills in by date in between the payday lines.
3. I create a monthly total at the bottom much like the Simple & Basic Monthly bills
4. I create a beginning total at the top so that I can see what I didn't spend in the previous month.
5. I make a column to the right of my budget that shows my actual available balance after paying/spending for each line item. This part is the "check register" of my budget.
6. I copy the whole worksheet and paste it into a new worksheet within the same workbook or file. I name each worksheet for the month it belongs to.
7. I make sure that the top total always equals the monthly total from the previous month.
8. I change the dates of my paydays.
9. I rearrange the bills to fit within the correct paydays.

• I make sure to do this for every month of the year and also make sure to add in the items that I want to spend only in certain months:  birthday present for my son, extra food/napkins for the 4th of July BBQ, Christmas spending money for the day after Thanksgiving, etc.
• I double check my totals on all of my months and I'm done!

Now, I have finished my budget.  I should only have to change totals for items that change like my utility bills ad maybe add a line if something unexpected happened like I had to replace a tire.  Other than that, I can see from month to month what my budget looks like and how it would be affected if I were to decide to buy that big flat screen TV or go shopping for new clothes that I want but don't really need. lol

If you would like a template that is ready for you to drop your own numbers into, just let me know. :D