by Starla Ross

Created on: November 23, 2009   Last Updated: November 30, 2009

When it comes to using software to design and develop a budget, Excel is by far one of the easiest and quickest solutions to working out a budget.

You may be thinking that designing a budget plan may be difficult - or that it may so time-consuming it will take away from the things you really like to do on your computer - like posting on Facebook or laughing at videos on YouTube. If you have your financial paperwork together, you can design a budget in Excel in less than 30 minutes - which incidentally is less time than it would take you to view ten videos of dogs performing silly tricks on YouTube. Those 30 minutes will yield you much greater benefit than learning how your dog can learn a new pet trick - and your dog will thank you too.

Begin by opening up the Excel program to a basic worksheet. You'll probably want to assign a name to your budget file right away, so you can save it frequently while you're working on your initial draft. In the upper-left hand corner, click "File," and then "Save As." There you can type in whatever name you'd like to give your budget, such as "Family Budget" or "Monthly Budget." Remember to save several times as you work through the worksheet so you don't lose your work.

Begin in one of the top cells, and type the word "MONTHLY INCOME." Under income, begin typing any income sources you may have such as your salary, your partner's salary, or child support. Only include here the income you actually bring home and can spend - your net income. After listing your monthly income and the amounts, go down a line and type "TOTAL MONTHLY INCOME." Here you'll want to add all your sources of income and place the total amount you receive each month.

Next, skip a line and type in "MONTHLY EXPENSES." Begin by listing all of your housing and fixed expenses for the month. You'll want to divide your expenses into categories. Your budget may look like this:

MONTHLY EXPENSES

Housing Expenses:

Home Mortgage
Electric Costs
Gas Service
Garbage Removal
Water/Sewer

Next, you'll want to list any transportation costs you may have. For example:

Transportation Expenses:

Car Loan
Oil Changes
Gas
Parking

You'll follow with your other expenses such as unsecured loans and credit cards. Lastly, you'll need to list the expenses for things like food and entertainment. An example would be:

Food Expenses:

Groceries
Eating Out
Kids' School Lunches
Baby Formula

Entertainment:

Movie Rental
Book Purchases

Don't forget to include lines for spending money and any other miscellaneous expenses you

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