Create your own household book with Excel

It is convenient if you create a budget book yourself using Excel. In this way, you always have an overview of your income and expenses for each month. With this practical tip, we show you how to proceed.

How to create your own budget book with Excel step by step

To create a budget book with Excel, you should first provide an overview. To do this, follow the individual steps.

1. Open Excel and save the new document under the name "Budget book" with the current year. Similar labels are also possible.
2. Click the plus sign at the bottom to add a new sheet. Follow this step until you have 13 individual spreadsheets.
3. In a next step, rename the worksheets by first right-clicking on "Table 1" and then selecting "Rename" to enter "January". Continue this until the month of "December" and enter a "balance sheet" or an "annual overview" for the 13th worksheet.
4. Then go back to January and write a headline such as "Summary of my January earnings and expenses".
5. Below you create two individual tables, each of which illuminates your income and your expenses. Make a note of the amounts, the total and the surplus. Also compare the screenshot.
6. Now copy the table into all worksheets from "January" to "December". Manually change the month in the heading.
7. Now enter all fixed income and expenses in the worksheets by clicking on the worksheet "January". Here, select the first cell [A1] and then press the [Shift] key to click on the "December" worksheet. Now all worksheets are marked. Record all income and expenses that are fixed. In this way, the amounts are now on all worksheets.

Find out the total, the surplus and the balance

Once you have created everything, you can now enter the variable amounts in your household book every month. Next, you should first create the sum, then the surplus and finally the balance sheet or the annual overview.

1. To determine the sum, enter the command "= SUM (C6: C8)" without the quotation marks in the cell. This command applies to the example. In your case, "C6" and "C8" will probably stand for other cells.
2. You determine the surplus by subtracting the income with the expenditure. In the example, this means that you enter "= D5-D13" without quotation marks.
3. Now create a table with the sheet "Balance sheet" or "Annual overview" with the month, the income, the expenditure as well as the profit or the loss. See the screenshot for this.
4. To ensure that all income is transferred correctly, enter "= January! D6" in cell [B6] without quotation marks in the example table for January. With the editions also without quotation marks "= January! D13" and with "profit / loss" again without the quotation marks "January! E13". You then adjust this formula every month and get an overview of your income and expenses for the whole year.

You can also manage your income and expenses via the app. In another practical tip, we will show you the best apps for your smartphone.