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Adrianne Serena February 11, 2021 Spreadsheet

Choosing the best budget spreadsheet software can be difficult if you have no idea on what you exactly need. If you don‘t know the exact features you‘re looking for, then the safest bet would be a user‐friendly spreadsheet software that can be easily used even by beginners. Look for this quality in a software program for household budgeting to avoid the hassle of using a very complicated program.

Fixed expenses. The expenses that do not vary every month are called fixed expenses, which include your loan payments, rental fees, and insurance premiums. Total income and expenses. When using a monthly budget spreadsheet, you will need to get your total income, total variable expenses, and total fixed expenses. Get the sum of the fixed and variable expenses and then deduct it from your total income. The resulting amount is called the disposable income, which can be used for savings or as an emergency fund. In case your expenses are higher than your income, you will have to make some adjustments in the amounts you allotted in your variable expenses.

The third important consideration is the availability of different cash flow valuation methods. Depending on the purpose and vehicle used for the real estate investment, you may want to value the investment on a pro forma basis under a variety of different assumptions. You may also want to calculate or use the break even point, IRR, NPV, and cap rate factors for various purposes. Ensuring the necessary calculations and inputs are available makes it easy to use the same model for different investment opportunities, and eliminates the need to enter all the necessary data twice.

First, databases are still tricky for some people to understand. While relational databases can be thought of as tables that have several indexes, this is more than many people want to deal with. Second, the collaboration tools are tough to learn and use. Look at how many people still use Lotus Notes for email and not much else. And since most of us are comfortable with email, using it as the transportation system isn‘t all that taxing. Until the day comes when three people are working on the same spreadsheet and make conflicting changes.

The first consideration is how clear and accurate the Excel formulas are. The keys here are easy accessibility and logical flow of the formulas. That means they should be either directly coded in the spreadsheet cells or written in an accessible VBA module, open to the user to view and change. Both of these approaches provide the ability to audit and test the formulas without requiring complex actions on the end user‘s part.

Next, add the dollar amount of your goals and the time in month or years. The long term goals will probably be in years and the short term goals in months. Set up a formula to divide the total goal amount by the goal length in months. This is the amount you need to save each month to achieve your goals. Set up a budget to help you save more money if you feel you can‘t make your goal savings each month. For extra help, open up another sheet and record your progress. Every week or every month write about how you are reaching your goals and if you are able to save the minimum each month. Try to save a little more each month and cut down on your time table, or if you can reach your monthly goal, adjust it. With this plan, you can include goals to save for big items such as a car or house, or to pay down debt.