Personal finances can be very hard to manage without the use of spreadsheets for simplification, organization, and error reduction. However, designing a spreadsheet takes a lot of time and often requires the expert hand of an accountant. This is true especially for business spreadsheets, which take into account lots of expenses and income.

I have selected the finest spreadsheets from around the Internet for your use. Enjoy!

1) 401K Planner

Take into account all the variables of your 401k saving to see your retirement amount. Change the amount saved per check or the age of retirement and even the expected annual return. Comes with a cool graph to visualize your earnings.

2) Personal Monthly Budget Planner

Includes incomes and a wide variety of expenses – including financial obligations such as loan repayments, subscriptions, entertainment, groceries, and more. A wonderful spreadsheet!

3) General & Administrative Expense Budget

A G+A Budget planner for your business. It includes all the major categories any business will spend money on per month, with a designated budget, and calculates the difference from the actual designated number.

4) Business Expense Report

The business expense report is a great spreadsheet for people spending money out of their own pocket knowing that they will be reimbursed by their business. It has a beautiful mileage based expense calculator, room for lodging, food, other expenses and more. Very useful.

5) Personal Wealth Analysis

This spreadsheet is very useful in helping you calculate your net worth. You can include your assets, debts and financial obligations, liabilities, and even your net worth as a goal. If you have a goal you would like to achieve, this is the best thing you can do.

6) Retirement Budget Calculator

Want to know how much money you need at retirement based on your expenses? This excellent retirement budget calculator spreadsheet is for you. Includes housing, living expenses, medical expenses and personal income.

7) Debt Reduction Spreadsheet

Are you stuck in a lot of debt? Want to calculate how you can reduce your debts and get your finances back in track? This free spreadsheet is for you.

I. Analyze your Spending Pattern, Calculate your Needs

1.Calculate your monthly expenses that are mostly static- insurance premiums, mortgage payments, tax payments, household purchases etc.

2. Allow some extra money for uncertain expenses.

3. Allocate at least 10% more than the amount that was calculated from point 1, to arrive at the total expenses amount. This is in case another recurring cost presents itself.

Analyze your ‘Probable’ Emergency Needs

1.With two people earning – Save up to 3 months salary as emergency fund

2.When only one person is earning – Save up to 6 months salary as emergency fund.

3.When one or both are earning – If you have a large family – up to 3 children – Save up to a year’s salary as emergency fund. Since the probability of emergencies is high in a family with kids, you need to allocate more funds.

Lock Up the Amount

1.Comparing your monthly expenses and emergency-needs, allocate a suitable amount that would go in as emergency funds.

2.Push your funds into a savings account that is made accessible by either of the partners in case of emergency.

3.Alternately, you can choose between a bank money market account or money-market mutual fund.

4.If you’re starting from scratch, remember to push in a bulk amount for the first time and subsequently allocate smaller portions from the next month.

5. And finally, never ever touch your emergency funds for any other expenditure.

Remember, that you’re saving for your loved ones. Regularly use expense tracking software to track your spending patterns and to keep a tab on your money. Let us know how this works or give us some feedback if you already try it!

1. Know what you NEED.

Many people have a hard time separating their needs from their wants. Before you decide to go to a grocery store, take a quick inventory of what you have on hand. Check your cans and freezer. Ultimately, some of the stocked away food can be used to concoct something quite delicious with the right amount of effort. Don’t buy things that you already have just because the price is low. Sure, you might be spending less than other buyers, but that is still money coming out of your pocket.

2. Know what gets EATEN.

One of the most common mistakes I see people doing all the time is buying things that they will never eat. For example,  I had a friend that would always buy pounds of bananas (claiming that the sale price of 39 cents a pound was hard to overlook) and stowing it away until they turned brown. I never saw him eat a banana. Buy knowing what gets eaten, not only will you be saving money as you will be buying food that you regularly buy and know the price fluctuations of, you will also be wasting less and pocketing more.

3. Create a workable WEEKLY budget.

I have seen many websites tell you to make monthly budgets, but I truely believe that monthly budgets are very hard to follow as predicting your spending over a long period of time for something that you shop for quite often is pretty difficult. Also, most people tend to get paid  biweekly and not monthly and could face shortages if they are not careful. I recommend you dedicate no more than 12% of your monthly income to groceries. For a family making a total of $70,000 a year, that would be about a weekly budget of $182. Divide that into 7 and you have about $25 dollars a day on food. This might seem like a small amount to you, but I guarantee that if you budget that much money per week, you will have money leftover.

4. Plan your weekly spending based on grocery specials.

It’s not a secret anymore that coupons are the best way to save money on groceries. Yet, of the over $70 billion of coupon saving offered by manufacturers each year, only $4.5 billion are redeemed by consumers. That’s barely 6%. Now, think of all those weekly specials you get in the mail and how you could put them to use. Don’t think of it as a waste of time, this doesn’t require any special attention and you could easily do it while watching your favorite TV show (during the commercials- 20 minutes per hour on average).

5. If the price is right, buy EXTRA.
Studies suggest that most of the BIGGEST savers buy not when they need something, but when the price is very low on something that they will need. Note my second step above, alhough you are buying these goods possibly at a time when you have them some already, you know this is something that is always in high demand and by buying early on sale, you save quite a lot of money (and time) .

6. Eat before you begin to shop.

Eat before you shop. One of the most well known facts on how to save on food. You walk into your local grocery store and the smell of fresh deli beats your self control. For example, my grocery store has a deli and bakery (fresh bread, oh so tempting) and it’s so very tempting to go astray when you’re hungry.

7. Buy store brands or generics and use the store’s loyalty card

Buying grocery store brand products will save you tons of cash. Industry sales research cited by the Private Label Manufacturers Association (PLMA) shows that American shoppers save about $15.8 billion annually by choosing store brands over name brands (think CVS, Walmart). The difference in prices is what the PLMA calls the “marketing tax” which you pay extra so that name brand manufacturers can promote their products through advertising.  The quality is the same, if not better. However, many store brand items are produced by the same manufacturers that make competing name brand items. You can save a lot of money by choosing to not pay this “marketing tax” and keep that money where it belongs – in your pocket!

8.Use coupons for additional savings!

I don’t think I need to elaborate on this one. In one of my next posts, I will submit 50 grocery store coupons that you can use to save more money.

There are several different methods one can save energy on their home electricity usage, which will also directly reduces the money you spend on your electricity bills. Here are some things you might do:

1. A lot of energy is spent washing your clothes! If your washing machine has a slower or economy setting, then use that instead of the regular normal setting.

2. Moving your refrigerator a few inches from the wall greatly reduces heat taken in from wall insulation and can dramatically increase its efficiency, saving you a bunch money! Remember, they run 24 hours a day!

3. Something many people might find surprising is the fact the when turning their electronics to standby mode, it still uses about 65% compared to when it is off. Turn off your electronics when leaving the house.

4. Turn off the lights when leaving a room!

5. Turn off your computer and monitor instead of leaving it on standby. Although most computers today run very efficiently, requiring less energy than a light bulb, the costs add up!

6. Choose to pay by direct debit instead of by paying by cheque or cash at the bank.

7. You may be able to save up to 25% off your electricity bill by switching to another cheaper electricity provider. This is quite straight forward to do and will most likely be the biggest electricity cash saving move you can make. If you have already done this move once before in the past, then you may still be able to save a further 10% to 15% by shopping around again.

8. It is not always the case that having your electricity and gas provided by one supplier is the cheapest way to go. If you look at other suppliers you may find it will work out cheaper to have electricity from one supplier and your gas supply from another.

9. Get involved in government programs! There is free money available!

10. Check your local newspaper for free energy efficient giveaways! Sometimes, brand new and great looking household items are given away by the city, state, or federal government.

11. Use an energy efficient light bulb. Although a bit more expensive at first, the change in your bill will be resounding!

These are all simple steps you might take to put more money in your pocket. However, remember, being aware of your energy utilization is probably the single most important step!