Post # 1
Member
1369 posts
Bumble bee
- Wedding: November 2019 - City, State
Budgeting! Everyone’s favorite topic!
So I’m in the beginning stages of putting together a budget. We have spoken with family and have figured out a total amount that we’re able to spend. However I’m having trouble trying to find a tool that allows me to sort of play with the numbers and figure out how we want to prioritize our spending. I’ve tried a few Excel templates, but they’re really unsatisfactory and don’t really give me a good picture of what my options are. Not to mention a lot of the formulas are beyond my comprehension and I don’t want to have to spend hours tinkering with Excel trying to get it to behave. I would really like to have a clear picture of approximately how much “category” will cost while staying under budget, but need a more time-efficient way to do it.
Does anyone have any ideas, or had good experiences with certain budgeting tools? Favorite apps?
Post # 2
Member
5476 posts
Bee Keeper
I don’t think an app or a spread sheet is going to be able to tell you what to prioritise. I would look up vendors in your area, pick 2/3 venues you love, photographers, caterers etc and work backwards from there. Find out how much they call cost and try to find a balance.
Post # 3
Member
1369 posts
Bumble bee
- Wedding: November 2019 - City, State
zzar45 : I guess that’s not what I meant – sorry. I worded that strangely. I meant it would be nice to have something that allows me to play with the numbers and see its effect on a zero-base budget. I admit, the idea I have in my head may not actually exist, lol.
Post # 4
Member
1988 posts
Buzzing bee
I guess I’m unsure what you mean as well, but there’s no harm in sending you a link to my favorite budget app!
https://www.everydollar.com/
Post # 5
Member
1199 posts
Bumble bee
I used a microsoft excel to keep track of all wedding expenses.
Post # 7
Member
1369 posts
Bumble bee
- Wedding: November 2019 - City, State
duchessgummybunns : That’s essentially the kind of template I started toying with, but I’d like something that would keep the Total Expenses constant, if that makes sense? As I mentioned before, what I’m thinking of may not exist, lol. But I thought I had seen other templates and functions that allowed you to basically “cap” the total expenditures and then work with the numbers within that range.
Post # 8
Member
207 posts
Helper bee
I don’t know of a way to keep total expenses constant as I only know basic formulas, adding up etc. But you could have the template above which adds up everything you have put in, and then in a separate column have the total budget you intended to spend subtracted what you would be spending if you went with what you wanted.
That way the result of that formula will be however much over or under you are… if that makes sense
Post # 10
Member
1458 posts
Bumble bee
Mint.com and excel are my go to tools.
Also google sheets.
Post # 11
Member
1369 posts
Bumble bee
- Wedding: November 2019 - City, State
laura1206 : I had a similar idea, but I think yours is simpler and would be easier to see that kind of information. Thanks!
Post # 12
Member
9388 posts
Buzzing Beekeeper
I just created an Excel spreadsheet to do what I want.
I used tabs as appropriate if I wanted a single line on my main page for “food” but then in another tab played around with what exactly I was ordering from the caterer.
Post # 13
Member
2331 posts
Buzzing bee
hickoryhills : I imagine that exists, but it would involve very complex rules and formulas. If the total is supposed to equal a certain amount (or 100%), and you increase one catergory (going over the total or 100%), how will excel know which catergories to decrease? I can imagine there’s a way to tell it to decrease all other categories by the same percentage to have the total still equal the amount you want (or 100%), but I have no idea how to do that.
Post # 14
Member
380 posts
Helper bee
I created a sheet in excel that had our total budget, vendors, total price for each, deposits, due dates, and had formulas so it all updated when we paid something to reflect how much of our budget we spent/alloted to each.
Post # 15
Member
1369 posts
Bumble bee
- Wedding: November 2019 - City, State
duchessgummybunns : Yes, this is exactly what I was thinking of. But I agree, it sounds wildly complex and I’m not good enough with Excel to be able to craft it, ha. Oh well! It sounds like I’ll have to use more basic methods.
