@Andrew_Hinson
It sounds like you're trying to manage your savings goals dynamically by adjusting your monthly contributions as previous goals are met, reallocating funds towards other goals. To accomplish this, we’ll create a structured Excel spreadsheet that dynamically calculates the savings needed for each goal, reallocates funds when goals are met, and flags if your goals cannot be achieved.
1. Spreadsheet Structure:
We’ll start by laying out the structure of the savings plan. Here’s an outline of what we need:
- Savings Goals Section (Top of the Sheet)
- Savings Goal (e.g., Vacation, Car Repair, etc.)
- Target Amount (e.g., £3000 for a vacation)
- Target Date (e.g., 15/06/2025)
- Months Remaining (calculated as the number of months between the current date and the target date)
- Monthly Required Saving (Target Amount ÷ Months Remaining)
- Monthly Disposable Income Section (Below the savings goals)
- Month (January, February, etc.)
- Disposable Income Available (e.g., £500 for January)
- Allocated to Goals (Amount allocated toward your savings goals)
- Leftover After Savings (Remaining after savings allocation)
2. Dynamic Savings Allocation:
We’ll use Excel formulas to automatically allocate your disposable income each month, starting with the savings goal with the earliest target date, and adjust the savings allocation once earlier goals are met.
3. Flagging Issues:
If you don’t have enough disposable income to meet a goal, the formula will flag it so you know you need to adjust your disposable income or target amounts.
Example Spreadsheet Layout:
Savings Goals (Starting in A1)
Savings Goal | Target Amount (£) | Target Date | Months to Save | Monthly Required (£) |
1) Vacation | 3000 | 15/06/2025 | =DATEDIF(TODAY(),C2,"m") | =B2/D2 |
2) Car Repair | 1000 | 15/10/2025 | =DATEDIF(TODAY(),C3,"m") | =B3/D3 |
3) Wedding | 5000 | 15/12/2025 | =DATEDIF(TODAY(),C4,"m") | =B4/D4 |
Monthly Budget (Starting in A7)
Month | Disposable Income (£) | Goal 1 Allocation | Goal 2 Allocation | Goal 3 Allocation | Leftover |
Jan | 500 | =MIN(E2,B2-SUM(F$2:F2)) | =MIN(E3,B3-SUM(F$3:F3)) | =MIN(E4,B4-SUM(F$4:F4)) | Formula |
Feb | 600 | Formula | Formula | Formula | Formula |
Mar | 400 | Formula | Formula | Formula | Formula |
Step-by-Step Guide for Formulas
1. Calculate Remaining Months for Each Goal:
- In the "Months to Save" column, we use the DATEDIF() function:
=DATEDIF(TODAY(),C2,"m")
- This calculates how many months you have until the target date.
2. Monthly Savings Needed:
- In the "Monthly Required (£)" column, we divide the target amount by the remaining months:
=B2/D2
- This tells you how much you need to save each month to meet the goal.
3. Allocate Monthly Disposable Income:
- For each month, allocate the disposable income first to the goal with the earliest target date, then to the next goal once the first is fully funded.
- In the "Goal 1 Allocation" for January:
=MIN($B$2,$B$2-SUM($F$2:F2))
- This ensures that you allocate funds only until the savings goal is met.
For "Goal 2 Allocation":
=MIN($B$3,$B$3-SUM($G$2:G2))
- Similar logic is applied, ensuring allocation only happens if the earlier goals have been fully met.
4. Calculate Leftover After Savings:
- Subtract the sum of the allocations from the disposable income for each month:
=B7-SUM(C7:E7)
- This shows how much you have left after saving for your goals.
5. Flagging Insufficient Funds:
- Add a condition to flag if you don’t have enough disposable income to meet the goals.
- For example, if the total required savings for a month exceeds the disposable income, you can use conditional formatting to highlight it, or create a formula that shows a warning:
=IF(SUM(C7:E7)>B7, "Insufficient Funds", "")
4. Automating Adjustments:
As your savings targets, dates, or disposable income changes, all the formulas will update automatically to reflect the new situation. If you increase your disposable income for a month or reduce a target, the plan will automatically adjust.
5. Flagging When Goals are Met:
Once a savings goal is met, any extra income should go to the next goal. You can easily track this by summing the contributions made to each goal and comparing them to the target amount:
=IF(SUM($C$7:C7)>=B2, "Goal Met", "")
This formula will flag the goal as "Goal Met" when the total contributions reach or exceed the target.
Example Workflow:
Let’s assume in January, you have £500 disposable income:
- £200 goes towards Goal 1 (Vacation).
- The remaining £300 is allocated towards Goal 2 (Car Repair).
In February, you have £600:
- The same logic applies: more funds go towards Goal 1, and whatever is left goes to Goal 2 and Goal 3 as needed.
When Goal 1 is fully funded, the remaining disposable income automatically goes toward the next goal in line.
Conclusion:
This solution allows you to:
- Dynamically allocate your disposable income to multiple savings goals.
- Automatically adjust the savings plan as your disposable income or savings goals change.
- Track if there’s insufficient income to meet your targets in time, and adjust accordingly.
By setting up this structure, you’ll be able to effectively plan for savings across multiple goals, ensuring your funds are allocated efficiently while keeping you on track to hit your deadlines. I cannot open the Excel file for personal security reasons. The text, steps and the formulas were created with the help of AI.
My answers are voluntary and without guarantee!
Hope this will help you.
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