¢ DOCUMENTATION FOR FINANCE¢ TEMPLATE¢¢This template is designed to keep track¢of family finances for any length of¢time. In order to keep within a 48K¢system, each month is kept separately,¢but you will be able to keep track of¢each category from the beginning of the¢year to date. Thus the last template¢in use will contain accurate data for¢year-to-date.¢ First use this template as a¢blank. At the beginning of each month,¢load it in and change the pertinent¢information to make it fit the current¢month. There are 5 columns for 5¢weeks, however some months only have 4¢weeks. Just leave the fifth column¢blank in that case.¢¢¢ EXPLANATION OF COLUMNS¢¢Column B is reserved for titles of each¢of the categories. Change them to suit¢your particular needs.¢¢Columns C thru G are reserved for the¢entries. One column for each week.¢¢Column H is a totals column for the¢categories FOR THE MONTH ONLY. For¢example, H5 contains the total for¢Vehicle 1 gasoline from C5-G5.¢¢Column I contains group totals. For¢example I 15 contains the total for all¢the money spent in the general¢automotive category FOR THE MONTH ONLY¢(H5 thru H14). This column will¢contain only those categories which¢have sub-categories (such as¢Automotive, Taxes, etc) since¢individual categories totals are kept¢in column H.¢¢Columns A and J - These two columns¢work together, and are the key to any¢cumulative year-to-date data. Column J¢will reflect the totals from column A¢(previous month's data) and the¢addition of the current month's data.¢At the END of each month, column J¢should be saved to disk as a DATA file¢(not a worksheet file). Then, as a new¢month is started, the saved column J¢should be loaded into column A of the¢new month. By doing so, you will then¢maintain a year-to-date record of each¢individual category. Until you have at¢least a month's entry, column A will be¢empty, however, you may want to put¢some info in there yourself, such as¢any current money in your savings¢account.¢¢ EXPLANATION OF ROWS AND CATEGORIES¢¢¢AUTOMOTIVE - this contains¢subcategories: V1 stands for Vehicle 1,¢etc. Each category here has three¢sub-divisions: Gas, Repairs, and¢Payment. Row 15 contains the totals¢for each week of all Auto.¢¢DONATIONS - has two categories: Church¢and other¢¢SAVINGS can keep track of up to 5¢separate savings accounts. In our¢family, we have a combined family¢account, a second special account¢(savings for some special purpose such¢as a vacation), and three other savings¢accounts one for each of our children.¢Of course, any money put into savings¢are not really expenses even though¢they are 'out of reach' so they will¢not be considered in the VARIANCE down¢on line 85.¢¢UTILITIES has five possible categories:¢gas, water, kerosene, electricity,¢phone.¢¢INSURANCE has four categories: home,¢life, hospitalization, and automotive.¢¢TAXES - FIT = Federal Income¢ FICA = Social security¢ SIT = State Income¢ SST = State Sales tax¢ CIT = City Income tax¢ FGT = Federal Gasoline tax¢ SGT = State gasoline tax.¢¢ Each of the other categories are¢individual (ie. no sub-categories) and¢are self explanatory.¢¢ Feel free to change the worksheet¢to suit yourself and your family's¢needs. Nothing is set in stone. If¢you have a change worthwhile, you may¢want to let me in on it/ or if you want¢to contact me, I check in on the SIG¢about 2 times per week. My number is¢70217,1145. Also, remember, the¢template won't do you any good unless¢you are meticulous about entering the¢data. It takes a lot of work, but the¢records are worth it.¢¢ Jim C.¢ dddddddddddddddddddddddddddd
