Big Blue Disk 36/bbd36.zip/LOANER.TXT

Text File | 1989-08-11 | 10KB | 185 lines

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^Cby
^CRobert L. Joy

    The world runs on credit, or so it seems.  Few have enough ready cash to
 just go out and buy those big-ticket items -- TV's, stereos, appliances,
 automobiles and home improvements.  The obligatory question most of us are
 forced to ask ourselves is "can I afford it?"  Of course what we really mean
 is "can I afford to make that monthly payment?"  "Gee I'd really love a new
 Trans-Am", maybe you are on a Yugo budget.  "This will be the year I'll get
 that swimming pool the kids have been asking for", intuition tells you had
 better wait another year.  Okay, you have the idea!

    ^1LOANER^0 is a menu-driven template for the popular Lotus 1-2-3(tm)
 software and compatibles. The template really is easy to use.  Macros do the
 work.  You do not need to be an "expert" to get the most out of LOANER and
 tap the power of 1-2-3.

    There are plenty of good programs around that will calculate a monthly
 payment and even output an amortization table.  So why prepare a spreadsheet
 to do a similar task?  Spreadsheets are great at number crunching.  You can
 play the "what if" game without rebooting or looping a program.  Change an
 interest rate a half point and instantly see the effect on the outcome.  Pay
 back a loan in 3 years instead of 4, see how many of YOUR dollars can be
 saved. That's what this is all about, folks!

    LOANER uses 1-2-3's graph making abilities.  A pie graph is available to
 give you a look at the impact of interest on your overall payback.  A
 stacked bar chart will let you see how interest and principal are
 proportioned in your first payments.  Use the graphs.  You will find them
 informative, and yes, a bit sobering.

    The template contains a 5-year amortization table, big enough to amortize
 most big-ticket loans.  See what portion of each payment goes to interest and
 watch principal and interest payments accumulate.  Plug in the figures for a
 loan you are already paying on, determine how many payments have been made,
 go to the appropriate row and see an estimate of the balance due on the
 original principal.  NOTE -- even though the amortization table has been
 limited to 5 years for reasons of file size and operating speed on machines
 without math co-processors, you can still use LOANER to estimate payments and
 interest for longer duration loans.  Everything works, but you will only see
 the first 5 years amortized.


 ^1OPERATION

    Load 1-2-3.  When the empty spreadsheet appears with the READY indicator in
 the upper right corner, type /FR and you will be prompted for a filename.  If
 LOANER has been copied to your Lotus directory, highlight LOANER.WK1 and hit
 the ENTER key.  If LOANER does not reside in your Lotus directory, press the
 ESCAPE key and type the path LOANER can be found on.  If LOANER is on your
 "A" drive, type A: and hit ENTER.  Highlight LOANER.WK1 and press ENTER.

    After LOANER has been loaded you will be greeted by the title panel and the
 dedicated menu in the familiar 1-2-3 style.  (If you have used LOANER before,
 you can just press ENTER, or the "I" key, and go right to work).

    A short primer on Lotus menu operation.  There are basically two ways to
 select an option from a 1-2-3 menu.  You can use the cursor keys to highlight
 the option you want and press ENTER, or you can press the key corresponding
 to the first letter of the option.  If you are not thoroughly familiar with
 the options, it is wise to use the highlight method.  As you move the
 highlight, a description of the option appears on the line below the menu.
 Many of the standard 1-2-3 options lead to submenus.  LOANER has no submenus.
 A few minutes of operation and you will be familiar enough to confidently
 press the first letter of the options you want.


 ^1MENU mode versus READY mode

    The indicator in the upper right corner will help you keep track of what
 you are doing.  If the indicator says "MENU" the template is under menu
 control.  Much of your LOANER activity will be from the menu mode.  When the
 indicator shows "READY", you are free to move about, but you are on your own.
 LOANER will put you in the READY mode to make your entries into the
 spreadsheet cells.  To return to the menu mode, just press the ALT key and,
 while holding the ALT key, press M.  (ALT-M).

    Now, let's take a look at LOANER's menu and consider what each of the
 options will do for you.  Here's the menu:

 Input    Pie    Bar    Report    Lock'n'Scan    Save    GraphPrint    Help


 ^1INPUT

    Press "I" and 1-2-3 will put you in READY mode with the cursor located
 at C7.  Enter the amount of money to be borrowed in the C7 cell.  Press the
 down arrow to accept the entry and move the cursor to C8.  Enter an interest
 rate in C8. (IMPORTANT -- enter the interest rate as a decimal.  For example,
 enter 18% as .18, 9.9% as .099 or 10.2% as .102).  Press the down arrow to
 accept the entry and move the cursor to C9.  Enter the length of time you
 expect to hold the loan for.  Enter the length of time in MONTHS.  Think of
 time as how many monthly payments it will take to pay back the loan (3 years
 is 36 monthly payments, 4 years is 48, etc.).  You can watch G7 for an
 estimate of your monthly payment, G8 for the total interest, and G9 for the
 "bottom line" estimate of how much you will be paying back to your friendly
 creditor.

    If you anticipate saving your work or printing a report, you can slide the
 cursor up to C4 and C5.  Here, you can enter the purpose of the loan and the
 name of the institution you expect to do business with.  If your entry in C4
 or C5 must begin with a number, enter a single quotation mark ['] first.
 This mark defines the entry as a label to 1-2-3 and heads off any calculation
 attempt.

    If you like, you can explore the amortization table.  Your worksheet is
 protected, so you won't have to worry about errant keystrokes destroying data
 or cell formulae.  Pressing F10 from the READY mode will allow you to view
 any graphs that may be current. (A feature of 1-2-3).  When you are ready,
 type ALT-M to return to LOANER's menu.  (Did you notice that you only need to
 make entries in 3 cells?)

 ^1PIE

    Press "P" from the LOANER menu to view a pie chart showing how interest
 and principal are proportioned in your overall payback.  Scary isn't it?
 When you have seen enough, press any key to return to the menu.

 ^1BAR

    Press "B" from the LOANER menu to view a bar chart showing the
 distribution of interest paid in your monthly payments.  This chart will
 encourage you to try borrowing for a shorter period of time!  The chart is a
 stacked bar type graph.  A whole bar represents a single monthly payment.
 The lower part of the "stack" is the principal component of the payment,
 while the upper part is the interest component.  Even though the chart would
 have been prettier in color, it is produced in black and white to allow you
 to print it via Lotus PrintGraph (tm) on your black-and-white printer.
 Apologies to you lucky folks with color printers!  Press any key to return to
 the menu.

 ^1REPORT

    Press "R" from the LOANER menu.  (Make sure your printer is ready).
 LOANER will produce a paper copy of the spreadsheet for you.

 ^1LOCK'N'SCAN

    Press "L" from the LOANER menu.  The cursor will move to the first cell in
 the amortization table.  From there, you can scan down through the rows and
 study the table or, perhaps, find out how much principal remains unpaid after
 a given number of payments.  The advantage of this option is the table header
 is locked in place so you won't have to wonder what data is in the column you
 are looking at.  Type ALT-M to get back to the menu.  Press "I" again if you
 wish to continue experimenting with the figures.  Pressing "H" (Help) will
 also clear the lock.

 ^1SAVE

    Press "S" from the LOANER menu.  This option initiates the save sequence.
 If you want to retain the spreadsheet you have been working with, give it a
 distinctive name.  If you do not wish to save on the default path, press ESC
 and enter a new path followed by your filename.  If you change your mind and
 decide not to save at all, press ESC several times to return to the READY
 mode.

 ^1GRAPHPRINT

    Press "G" from the LOANER menu.  GraphPrint does not actually print
 anything by itself.  It saves the CURRENT graph in the form of a .PIC file
 for later printing with Lotus PrintGraph.  (See your 1-2-3 manual).  The
 current graph is the last graph you viewed.  A suggestion: view the pie
 chart, save the PIC using the name "PIE".  Then, view the bar chart and think
 of a good name to save the PIC under!

 ^1HELP

    Press "H" from the LOANER menu.  A help panel will be displayed to give
 you a reminder, or two, if you need assistance.  The LOANER menu remains
 active while viewing the help panel.


 ^1QUITTING 1-2-3

    One last detail!  How to get back to DOS.  From the READY mode, type /Q
 and then Y to confirm.  From the MENU mode type <ESC>/Q and Y to confirm.
 That's about it.  Happy financing!

 DISK TEMPLATE FILES:
^FLOANER.WK1