Use the concepts and techniques presented in the Excel modules to create your personal budget.
For the next twelve-month period beginning with January and ending in December, forecast your income for each month, your base expenditures for each month, and your special expenditures for each month.
You have to create an actual personal budget. The figures must be real. If you have never created a budget, this is an excellent opportunity for you to learn to budget your money and see where your money is going and what financial goals you have for yourself.
The Tasks:
List the income for each month. Income may include salary, annuities, income from stocks and bonds, government checks, financial aid grants, and any other type of income.
List the base expenditures that include expenses which occur each month, such as rent, utilities, credit card payments, car loan payments, car insurance, public transportation, and other regular monthly payments.
List special expenditures that include expenses which are out of the ordinary, such as the purchase of gifts, tuition or school fees, and any other special expenditures for the month.
Create a separate sheet for healthcare expenses. Break down your monthly expenditures in categories like medications, doctor copays, dentist visits, eye exams and glasses/contacts, and even wellness (like vitamins, etc.). Transfer the total healthcare expenses for each month into the main spreadsheet.
Create the formula for the net income for each month. The net income is income minus expenses.
Cash flow exercise. Suppose that you start the year with x amount in the bank. At the end of every month, add/subtract the net income for the month to see what your month-end cash is. Each month’s month-end cash amount becomes the next month’s cash in bank.
Format the spreadsheet using Currency Number formatting with the dollar sign at the beginning balance and total for each column. Use any cell styles, alignment, font options, colors, and borders as you see fit.
Create a line chart for month-to-month cash flow and a pie chart for yearly expenses by category. Create the charts in a new tab in your Excel spreadsheet.
PERSONAL BUDGET CHART
After you have created your personal budget in an Excel spreadsheet, create the following charts:
a line chart for month-to-month cash flow
a column chart that shows the income and expenses for each month. You may use any variation of the column chart that you wish.
a pie chart for yearly expenses by category.
Create the charts in new tab(s) in your Excel spreadsheet.
Based on the charts you have created, analyze your budget in a Word document, separate from the Excel spreadsheet and charts. Your analysis should highlight your financial goals for the following year, the highest expenses, and any ways in which you will make changes to your spending habits so that you can achieve your financial goals. You can copy and paste any of the charts that will support your budget analysis from Excel into the Word document.
EXCEL CREATE A PERSONAL BUDGET–VIDEO
Using Screencast-o-Matic or any other screen capture, prepare a video of no more than 3 minutes of the finalized spreadsheet and your picture and voice explaining the way you completed the spreadsheet of your budget. Make sure to include in your video presentation the purpose of the spreadsheet that you created, the formulas you used for monthly cash flow, the charts, and the analysis of your budget.
