How to Create a Household Budget with Microsoft Excel

A household budget includes your income and expenses for your household. Whether you have a small, medium or large household it is very important for you to create a household budget to track your family’s income and expenses. The best way to do this is with a spreadsheet. Microsoft Excel is the most popular spreadsheet used today to keep track of finances. This guide will show you the basics of Excel and simple math calculations used in this application.

Basics of Microsoft Excel

The most important things are how to insert, edit, and save your data in the spreadsheet. When you initially open Excel you will see a series of columns and rows. The columns are labeled with letters and the rows are labeled with numbers. The boxes are called cells. The cells are where you will enter your data.

Inserting Data

Your data will typically include income, light, water, and phone. You will need to enter labels to differentiate your figures. Enter your labels and figures in separate cells. When entering labels, I recommend that you enter them in the same column in separate cells for organization. This is up to you. When you are done entering your labels, enter the figures in each cell next to the labels, excluding your income. Enter your income one or two columns from the income label.

Editing Data

After entering your data, you may need to edit the labels. This is simple. Just click in the cell that you need to edit and enter the correct number. This will change the previous data to the new data.

Calculating Figures

When you are done inserting and editing your data, you will need to calculate the figures. The most important calculations are addition and subtraction. You will need to have labels for your total bills, total income (if you have more than one) and balance. In the total bills and total income cell you will need to add and in the balance column you will need to subtract.

To add, identify the cells that you would like to add. Each cell has a name based on the column letter and row number. If you want to add your total bills for light and water in cells B2 and B3 for example, you will need to enter =b2+b3 in the cell designated for the total bills. You will see the results in the cell after you press enter. Make sure that the total is in a separate cell. The same goes for subtracting your expenses from your income. The only difference is use the minus (-) sign instead of the plus (+) sign. It is as simple as that.

Saving Data

When you are done, ensure that you save your data. Just go to File in the menu section and then Save As. A dialog box will appear to enter the name for your file. Enter a name that you will easily remember, and then click on Save. Remember to save it in a location that is easily accessible, like your Documents folder or Desktop. That’s it; you have completed your household budget.

Of course they are additional features for organizing and structuring your household budget in Excel. You can format cells, rows, and columns with decimals, dollar sign, color, and borders. Go to the Format menu in your Excel to locate these features and others. Good Luck!