I am trying to create a sheet that functions as a One Number Budget. I have attempted to use the Spending Money sheet, but it doesn’t work as I want it to. My plan is to use the Category tab to divide my expenses into Fixed and Variable categories. I aim to create a list of all my fixed expenses, which will update automatically once they’ve been paid from my account. I also want to include my savings and debt payoff goals in the fixed expense category. Ultimately, I want to have a running total that shows how much discretionary spending I have left each month. Unfortunately, I lack the technical know-how to build this sheet myself.
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Interesting. I hadn’t heard of a One Number Budget before.
I don’t think I have seen something that has all these pieces organized the exact way you lay out but you can likely find a number of pieces that are close if you search in the Show & Tell section(s). You may be able to pull them together into a single view or just use them as standalone functional sheets.
The new Monthly Budget Calendar might be helpful with seeing “how much discretionary spending I have left each month”.
Thank you for asking this question – I’d never heard of the One Number Budget approach before now! I researched this method and wrote a post about it to share with the rest of the Tiller Community.
If you don’t mind me asking, how did you find the One Number Budget, and why do you like it?
If you simply want to see a running total of your spending vs a target, I agree with Randy that the Monthly Calendar is an easy, customizable way to do this. You could enter your “One number” as your budget target:
I’m hoping someone in the Community builds a dedicated template based on the One Number Budget. In the meantime, there are a couple of ways to customize you category names, groups, and tags in your Tiller Foundation Template to get close.
Note: if you want to experiment with changing your categories, we recommend copying your original spreadsheet and trying your changes there. AutoCat can easily reassign transactions to your new categories, tags, etc.
Creating specific category names to follow the One-Number system will probably get messy fast. Instead, consider using groups that follow the system of fixed monthly expense, non-monthly expense, financial goal, and discretionary expenses:
You can then run a report on your groups with the Category Tracker for Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel, to easily see what you’ve spent in each group by week, month, and year.
Or, you can make quick pivot table or create a category filter.
If you don’t want to customize your category groups in this way, you could also use tags:
You can generate a report on tags with the Category Tracker for Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel. For Google Sheets you can also use the Tag Report.
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@Cosmos I am very interested in this budget approach. Conceptually, getting a real-time view of your spending limits makes a lot of sense. I also like how it removes some of the barriers and complexities of traditional budget strategies. Similar to you, I am not technical enough to build the template. I would happily pay someone to make it if they are interested.
@Edward You mentioned copying the sheet to test the method. Just to clarify, are you suggesting duplicating the file in Google Drive and setting up the One Number Budget?
Thanks everyone for your feedback!
@randy Thanks for sharing the new Monthly Budget Calendar! That accomplishes most of what I was looking for. Very cool.
@Edward I only recently learned the solution I have personally used manually had a name. I’ve been looking for an app that would automate a solution like this for a very long time. I finally decided to ask here since this is what I use for managing my personal finances.
As an accounting and finance professional, I am a big believer in budgets for businesses. However, a lot of people (myself included!) don’t have the time or desire to track spending at a granular level. I budget my fixed expenses and savings and debt goals which leaves me with a single number for discretionary spending.
I made adjustments to the Spending Money sheet similar to what you’ve detailed above that allows me to see a remaining balance, but the Monthly Budget Calendar is much cleaner!
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My understanding of @Edward’s note about copying the spreadsheet, @EdwardDarrah, was that you could make a copy for experimentation before implementing changes in your master data set.
You could also make the changes in your master and then revert the changes using Google Sheets’ restore functionality if you are not happy with the new approach.
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Glad you like the Monthly Budget Calendar, @Cosmos.
I hear you on granular budgeting. I’m the same way. I want a holistic picture and to feel like there is some accountability, but I don’t need or adhere to line-item net budgets at the end of every month. I’m more of a “tracker” than a budgeter.
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That makes sense; thanks for clarifying.
For the One Budget Number, is it still possible to use this approach if you carry student loan or credit card debt? And if so, how is debit implemented into the formula to determine the weekly number?
Thanks
Certainly! I have both savings and debt payments incorporated into my fixed budget. I tried to attach a screenshot of an example but it won’t let me.
I adjusted the Spending Money sheet to function similarly. On the Categories tab, I group by Fixed and Variable and updated the query to pull in accordingly. Again, tried to add a screenshot but I’m not able.
It would be great if there was a way to automatically adjust the discretionary number with actuals for fixed expenses that can vary like utilities. I’m not sure how to do that.
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Thank you, this is helpful information. I wish there was template to set it up. I doubt I will be able to manipulate the formulas.
Perhaps @Cosmos will share the edit made to the Spending Money sheet to achieve this outcome, that was the sheet I had in mind as well. 
I was never able to get the Spending Money sheet to function the way I wanted. I ended up creating one from scratch that pulls from the Transactions and Categories sheets. I also linked my credit card balances from the Debt Planner sheet as a dashboard.
It’s a simple sheet, but it functions like a hybrid between a budget and the one number budget. I’d be happy to share it, but I’m not sure how without also sharing my personal data.
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Hello,
That sounds like a great solution. I have struggled with trying to set up the One Number budget. It would be great to try out your template.
If need be, I can send you my email.
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@EdwardDarrah @heather Here is the first draft of the budget spreadsheet. It’s designed to simplify the monthly budgeting process, manage cash flow, and assist in debt management, within a single dashboard. It leverages the Transactions, Categories, and Debt Planner tabs in Tiller.
Key Features:
- Monthly Budgeting: The spreadsheet is designed to capture both your budgeted and actual expenses for each month, calculating the balance. You can opt to include a budget for both fixed and variable or just include fixed to arrive at a single balance available for variable expenses. You can include saving and investing goals as a fixed expense.
- Cash Flow Management: The spreadsheet provides a clear picture of your remaining cash balance.
- Debt Management: This includes a dedicated section for credit cards where you can track your monthly payments and outstanding balances. My goal with this section is for someone carrying a credit card balance to see the total added for the month.
I’ve used it for the past month and keep tweaking as things come up. I’d love to hear feedback.
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Hi @Cosmos thank you so much for putting this together. This will be very beneficial.
I had a few questions regarding setup, which I have listed below:
- Can I add this Sheet to my current Tiller Budget Sheet? Or do I need to start a new one?
- I use slightly different terminology; I want to confirm if this will work with the sheet:
Groups
Discretionary/Spending = Variable
Financial Goals - I use these savings transfers.
Do you use “Transfer Types” for savings transactions? (I currently use Transfer Types as a Group for just transfers.)
In the Budget tab, is “REMAINING BALANCE” the single number for monthly Discretionary/Spending?
Thanks again for taking the time to do this. I will be sure to give feedback once I have it set up.