How Zero Based Budget with Google Sheets

 

Summary.

In this tutorial, we show you step by step how to use our Zero Based Budget/Bill Calendar. Zero Based budgeting is a very beginner friendly budgeting technique. What makes our Budget Calendar particularly useful is that it combines zero based budgeting with features of budget by paycheck to create a fun and simple way to track income and expenses. 

This tutorial is broken down into 6 digestible  parts.

• What is Zero Based Budgeting? 
• Getting Started. 
• How to set up and customize your Calendar? 
• How to use the Budget/Bill Calendar? 
• How is this Budget Calendar Zero Based? 
• How to read your Annual Summary?

What is Zero Based Budgeting?

Zero-based budgeting encourages you to allocate all of your money to expenses for needs, wants, and short and long term savings and debt payments. The idea is to make sure every dollar coming in is put to use. 

Or as we like to call it here - ensure every dollar is working for you! The nice piece about our Zero Based Budget/Bill Calendar is that it combines the best parts of zero based budgeting and budgeting by paycheck into one easy dashboard for new and seasoned budgeters. 

Additionally, there are no transaction trackers in this Dashboards. This feature is what makes this Dashboard different than others. Every transaction (money coming in or flowing out) can be entered directly into the calendar - allowing budgeters to visualize and identify patterns in their spending. 

Getting Started. 

Before you can make edits on your new Budget and Bills Calendar, make a copy first!

1. On a Computer -  Go to File > Make a Copy > Enter your preferred name for the Calendar.

  

Figure 1. Computer - Make a Copy.

 

2. On IPad/Mobile Device/other Tablet devices - Download the Google Sheets App from your App Store > open Google Sheets App > exit out of the Dashboard > Click on the ellipsis > Make a Copy.

Figure 2. Tablet - Make a Copy.

How to setup and customize your Calendar?

1. For Set : 

• Enter the Year.
• Select any month for the starting month. 
• Select any number from 1 to 7 for the starting day of each week.

2. For Customization : 

• Under "Left to Budget Customizations", there are default icons that the Calendar use. 
• You can swap out these 3 default icons with any you prefer. Simply copy and paste your preferred icon into the Default column.

Figure 3. Calendar Set up and Customizations.

How to use the Budget/Bill Calendar?

The Budget/Bill Calendar is designed to scroll, so you'll find that there are 12 calendars all on one tab! Each day has a dropdown with custom field placeholders that you can edit.

1. Adding a transaction/expense - click on the dropdown > select the category > enter the amount under the dropdown. 

Figure 4. Adding a transaction and changing custom dropdown fields.

2. Adding your custom fields - Click any dropdown > click on the pencil icon > change fields like "Custom Variable #1", "Custom Income #1", "Custom Saving #2", "Custom Spend #1", etc. to your own preferred waits > click on "Apply to all".

3. Analyzing your Budget - transactions entered into the calendar are auto-summed together based on category. The Amt. column is the total amount for that month. The Running Amt. column is the total amount since the start of the first month, including the current month. The 5 different buckets are Fixed Monthly Bills, Variable Monthly Bills, Income, Savings, and Spendings. Each dropdown can be changed, so you can specify the order of each transaction type. 

Figure 5. Analyzing your Budget.

4. Tracking Bills Paid - each day has a checkbox. Mark the checkbox next to the bill and the Paid column will auto update to "Yes". In the image below, "Rent" is checked off on the calendar, and has "Yes" in the Paid column. "Student Loan" and "Water" is not checked off, and is empty representing No. There is no need to enter a transaction if you don't have those bills. 

Figure 6. Tracking Paid and Unpaid Bills.

5. Using Quick Links are shortcuts to a calendar without the need to scroll. Simply click on the month that you want to go to and then click on the link. 

Please note that Google currently has not made these links clickable on the Google Sheets App. 

Figure 7. Using Quick Links.

How is this Budget Calendar Zero Based?

So far, we have gone through every feature on the Calendar expect the Zero Based Budget feature. And that is intentional because the zero based budget will only come into effect once you have entered transactions into the calendar. 

Below are the 4 different statuses and what each of them mean. 

1. "You overspent. Do better next month! " is just that! You allocated more money than what you earned that month.

Figure 8. Overspend Status.

 

2. The Green Bar means you still have money left to allocate!

Figure 9. The Green Bar.

3. "0" means you have achieved zero-based budgeting. This means you successfully assigned every dollar a purpose; whether that's bills, savings, investments, or spendings.

Figure 10. Zero-Based Budgeting Status.

4. "Add sources of income" means you haven't add an income source yet. You can still add your bills and spending transactions, but remember to add your paycheck when you are paid!

Figure 11. No Income added Status.

How to Read your Annual Summary?

Figure 12. Annual Summary.

1. "Where did my month go?" shows the total for each bucket for the past 12 months.

2. "Best Income Month" outputs the month that you earned the most income!

3. "Best Savings Month" outputs the month that you saved the most!

4. "How Much Did I Allocate to Each Category?" displays the percentage allocation of your income towards all bills, savings, and spendings. 

That's all folks! Thanks for reading and if you have questions or suggestions, please comment below. In the meantime, Happy Planning!