Managing your personal finances might feel overwhelming at times, but you can use websites such as It's Your Money to find free tools to help you tackle the job.
It's Your Money offers a variety of spreadsheets to download. These free or low-cost personal finance spreadsheets work with Excel, not Quicken or other personal finance software. Use them if you prefer the customization possible with spreadsheets, or if you are unwilling or unable to pay for financial software.
Note
Before you download, make sure your spreadsheet program (Excel, Open Office Calc, or Libre Office) will work with your chosen file. Also, be aware that some of the paid files may not be compatible with your software or operating system, so check before purchasing.
Check Register Spreadsheet
The check register spreadsheet can be used for all account types, not just checking, and is meant to help you track all of your account transactions and balances in one place. Get the free version with a running account balance, transaction categories, instructions, transaction types, and up to 200 categories. You can customize account types and categories, too. To get one-click sorting, the ability to reconcile the account, and other features requires an upgrade that costs $11.95.
Freedom Account Spreadsheet
A freedom account, as described by Mary Hunt in her book "Debt-Proof Living," is a financial account used to save for expenses such as medical bills, auto repairs, and annual property taxes. Deposits and withdrawals for expenses are recorded in sub-account worksheets, with the total of all sub-accounts reflected in the account balance on the savings account sheet. You can download the freedom account spreadsheet for free from the It's Your Money site, or pay $9.88 to download a more robust version.
Debt Tracker Spreadsheet
Use the free debt tracker spreadsheet to get a handle on debts such as installment loans and credit cards by keeping tabs on them in one place. You can sort your debts by balance, interest rate, type of debt, and more, as well as calculate your debt-to-income ratio and your credit card utilization percentage. The debt tracker spreadsheet also charts your debt paydown progress so you can see your progress visually.
Price Book Spreadsheet
Keeping a price book is one of the best ways to stick to your budget by determining whether a product can be bought for less elsewhere or whether the "sale price" is a real deal. Enter the item, date, units (ounces, for example), and price, and the price book spreadsheet calculates the unit price so you can compare the cost of an item in various sizes of packaging. You can even sort by store.
Building a usable price book takes some time as you record sale prices or prices from shopping each week, but using a price book spreadsheet will make comparison shopping much easier.
Portfolio Allocation Spreadsheet
Tracking your investment asset allocations helps you maintain a diversified portfolio. Use this free, simple spreadsheet to help.
Note
Set the percentages you want for each investment category and the Portfolio Allocation Spreadsheet converts these percentages to dollar amounts to equal the total portfolio value.
The free download of the portfolio allocation spreadsheet shows you which investments you may need to sell a portion of and which investments may need increased representation in your portfolio. If you need help, the site offers a downloadable instruction guide in PDF format.
Balance Sheet
The balance sheet spreadsheet will help you to determine your net worth, which is simply the value of all of your assets minus liabilities. Use the balance sheet to record and organize your assets and liabilities, then see the results. It will also show you some other ratios that give you an idea of your financial stability. Once you've done that, you should know exactly where you stand financially. The free download also comes with PDF instructions if you need extra help.
What Else You Should Know
Most of the spreadsheets require Excel 2007 or later to operate correctly, and some of them don't work on Macs at all. Be sure to read the download notes before downloading any paid versions of the spreadsheets.
It's Your Money offers more downloadable spreadsheets in addition to those listed above, so you're sure to find a file that works for your needs.
