Hi - I just loaded the ‘Savings Budget’ sheet to my Foundation Template.
I loaded it because I’m a big fan of the Envelope Budget sheet, specifically how it dives into specific category spending. I don’t use the rollover budget features.
The ‘Savings Budget’ was promoted as ‘faster’ and an upgrade to the Envelope Budget sheet.
What’s the benefits of the Savings Budget for someone that doesn’t do rollovers (like me)?
Thanks.
The main benefits and functionality are outlined in the documentation. The rollovers are a core part of the new functionality and can be used either to preserve leftovers or shortfalls month-to-month or to create virtual in-category savings.
If your core budgeting goal is spending-tracking with category granularity, the Monthly Budget in the Foundation template is probably best.
Preserving leftovers and shortfalls month-to-month seems like intense tracking. Are many people using that level of detail?
I think a cool feature would ‘smart recommendations’. For example, an alert to invest high balances of cash into investments (ie- high interest checking accounts, money funds, short bonds, etc.).
High balances could be defined and set by the user (ie - 2-5x monthly cash flow)…
-j
I’m currently making heavy use of that detail to track savings goals as well as recurring non-monthly expenses (annual, biannual, quarterly, bi-monthly) that I set aside budget dollars for each month. It takes some initial setup to determine the proper monthly budget, but it’s not a lot of work and becomes largely self-maintaining once the budgets are set. The new Savings & Debt sheet helps automate a lot of those calculations so you know exactly how much you need to budget each month to reach your goal or payoff amount by the deadline. Using that workflow helps plan for and prevent large “surprise” expenses.
Thanks for sharing your workflow. I’ll have to put more thought into that.
Exactly. This is the main draw of the Savings Budget solution for me as well. I need to devote some time to the Savings & Debt sheet if that’s a tool to make this non-monthly budgeting task even easier.
Is there a way that you can create a sheet that allows me to choose a category and see the details of transactions for that category only, for a defined period of time? For example, maybe I want to review the gift category to review transactions during December. Or my Reimbursement category (used for expenses that will be reimbursed–employer, health insurance, etc.) to see what I need to submit for reimbursement for the last quarter.
Hi @lillytryon,
It sounds like you are looking for the Category Tracker solution. This sheet allows you to specify a date range and category, and all transaction descriptions and amounts for that period will be displayed. Note that identical descriptions will be combined into a single summed line, and specific transaction dates are not displayed.
Thanks, Curtis. That’s sort of what I’m looking for. But I need the dates and details (notes, tags) for each transaction. And it wouldn’t be helpful at all if identical descriptions were combined into a single summed line.
Hi @lillytryon: Have you tried using a filter in the Category column of the Transactions sheet? Very quick and efficient.
Start with the funnel icon in the tool bar. Then click the icon that appears in the column header for Categories. Start by selecting “Clear,” then place a check mark next to the category you wish to review and click “OK.” You should see only the transactions that have been flagged with that category.
You can refine the list further by clicking on the funnel icon in the Date header and restrict the list to those after or before the date you choose.
Thanks, Brad. I’ll try that. I try not to manipulate the data in the transaction sheet too often. It is useful when reconciling bank statements to sort by account. But I’ve messed up the spreadsheet in the past when I was sorting. Also, it would be useful to have a separate sheet for looking at a category, rather than toggling back and forth between filter/clear filter if needing to go back to check something in the overall transaction page (“Didn’t I get reimbursed for that? Was it categorized incorrectly?”). Not sure if that makes sense.
I’m sorry to hear that. 
I don’t believe there are any stock solutions that give the level of detail you are looking for, but I was able to modify a copy of the Category Tracker to give more discrete results and add notes and tags. I’ve posted the details on how to get this working in the How-To section User Request: Detailed Category Tracker. Please give that a try and let me know how that works for you.