Excel Table Compatible Formulas and Recommendations for Budget Spreadsheet

[Ch0tcCr3t0r]

I know theres already a lot of pre made spreadsheets to help with budgetting but im attempting to create a more multifunctional budget calculator 

I can make the formulas work without the Tables but I end up still with 1 main issue of it appearing overwhelming to begin with (Tables expand as you hit enter, whereas not having them the user has to fill/boarder cells as they go or pre fill/boarder the cells and add the formulas making it overwhelming to look at) and not being able to transfer that data into a separate sheet in the file.

(I've done this for people using just old school calculator/brain and putting pen to paper; would like to simplify the task if I can)

Eg.

-Paycheck Received Weekly/Fortnightly/Monthly/Annually etc

-Some bills are fortnightly, some are monthly, yearly, Bi Yearly, Bi Monthly etc

-I want to be able to have it so if the users pay cycle changes/ bill cycles change; the spreadsheet can be adapted

-I also want to be able to (on a separate sheet) have the data from the first sheets table transfer over and be able to be categorized (House Bills; Savings; Pet Care etc)  

Any Tips For This Math Wiz/Technology Noob Would Be Great!

[#2]

@Ch0tcCr3t0r 

Any Tips For This Math Wiz/Technology Noob Would Be Great!

An interesting combination. And from what you've written, it sounds like:

• you're hoping to create a budget sheet for others to use, not just for yourself
• you may be an accountant/financial whiz who hitherto has helped people with paper-based budgets
• you know a few basics about Excel and maybe GoogleSheets or other spreadsheet apps (just enough to know there's a LOT more to be learned)

So let me just say that you might want to begin by creating as much of that "ideal multifunctional budget calculator" as you can, perhaps by building off pre-exiting templates--though frankly a lot of them are deeply flawed. Go as far as you can, and then come back with that work-in-progress and ask for comments, suggestions, revisions.

In case you're not aware of it, Microsoft actually has a semi-official app called Money-in-Excel that links with some (not all) banks and credit-cards. It did not link with my bank (Fidelity) so I never went very far with it. But to that extent, you needn't invent the wheel; it's already rolling along.

Creating something for others to use--which it does sound like you're wanting to do--is VERY difficult, especially if you're creating it for novices at both math AND Excel. I have a pretty robust budget sheet that I've created for myself; it relies on monthly downloads and imports from each bank and credit card, and then the somewhat tedious task of going through and categorizing the various transactions into the appropriate budget category. Once all the work is done, the Excel Pivot Table does wonders in summarizing both expenses and income....but I'd never pretend that I could just hand that to a client (not that I have any) with the expectation that they'd know even where to begin.