SHEETS MADE SIMPLE · BOOK 2
Budget & Expense Tracker in Google Sheets
A Step-by-Step Beginner's Guide: Plan vs. Actual, Savings Goals and a Yearly View for Your Household or Small Business
A budget you'll still use in December.
Most budget spreadsheets are abandoned by March. Not because of willpower — because they're built like a form you fill in once: totals typed by hand, a new tab every month, and nothing that tells you when you're over.
This book builds the other kind. You write down what you spent, one line at a time. Google Sheets does the rest — plan versus actual for any month, savings goals, a yearly view, even a check against your bank balance. The key steps are shown with screenshots, and every chapter has a free practice file you can copy in one click.
Free practice files: 11 ready-made Google Sheets, one per chapter. Every number printed in the book was checked against the real files.
No programming. Book 2 of the Sheets Made Simple series — every formula is explained, so you can start here.
What you'll learn
- A Settings tab with 8–15 categories that actually make sense
- A Transactions log where Month and Type fill themselves
- A monthly report that says "OK" or "Over by $16.55" — change one cell to switch months
- Savings goals that tell you how much to put aside each month
- A yearly view with one formula, red flags for unusual months, and a chart
- Bank-statement import with rules that categorize purchases automatically
- A small-business version: income by channel, profit and a tax set-aside
- A 15-minute monthly routine, and fixes for the 10 problems that quietly break budgets
Chapters
- 1. Why Most Budgets Die in March
- 2. Design Your Budget System
- 3. Categories That Make Sense
- 4. The Transactions Log
- 5. Monthly Plan vs. Actual
- 6. Savings Goals That Update Themselves
- 7. The Yearly View
- 8. From Your Bank Statement in Minutes
- 9. Household or Small Business: Two Versions
- 10. Your 15-Minute Monthly Routine
- 11. Fix It Fast: 10 Budget Problems