credit card spreadsheet

[Just Me]

Hello,

First of all I don't know Excel very well, I know just the basics so
please keep that in mind when making any suggestions.

I download my credit card data in csv format every month, I would like to
have a spreadsheet that would keep track of the money I spend and show me
the %'s of what I spend on each category. For the most part I have the same
places I spend my money on every month, there are times that something will
come up as a one time thing but most everything I have each month.

I would like to be able to download the csv file and have some kind of
formula or something that will take what I paste in the worksheet and
calculate the % of money spent on each place. I don't know anything about
using formulas or advanced things in Excel.


I hope I have explained this so that you understand what I want to
accomplish.

Thanks in advance

 

[RagDyer]

You might look at these MS templates to see if there's something you can
use,
without having to re-invent the wheel.

http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/templates/CT101172321033.aspx

 

[Just Me]

Thanks for the link but I don't think a budget is what I am looking for. I
don't want to budget, I just want to see what % of my money is being spend
on each category.

 

[Peo Sjoblom]

That's what a budget does, look for personal expense budget or something
like that

--


Regards,


Peo Sjoblom

 

[Just Me]

A budget has too many things that I don't need and you have to enter the
data.....That's why I do not want a budget template, but thanks for your
suggestion

 

[RagDyer]

<<<"I just want to see what % of my money is being spend on each
category.">>>

That's a *perfect* definition of a budget!<bg>

 

[Just Me]

Forget it, seems like you people just want to argue.. what part I don't want
a budget don't you understand???

 

[joeu2004]

I hope I have explained this so that you understand what I want to
accomplish.

I understand what you want, and it is not an unreasonable thing to
do. However, it is very difficult to provide you with specific help
because every credit card download may have a different format.

I download my credit card data in csv format every month, I would like to
have a spreadsheet that would keep track of the money I spend and show
me the %'s of what I spend on each category.

This is relatively difficult to automate because you have to assign
the categories to each purchase.

For the most part I have the same places I spend my money on every
month, there are times that something will come up as a one time thing
but most everything I have each month.

That does "simplify" things, but only slightly. Essentially, you will
need to create a table that you can look up by location and get the
corresponding expense category.

I would like to be able to download the csv file and have some kind of
formula or something that will take what I paste in the worksheet and
calculate the % of money spent on each place.

Then you will need formulas that involve SUM or SUMPRODUCT to total
things by category.

I don't know anything about using formulas or advanced things in Excel.

Well, this would be a good way to learn. However, it is far beyond
your skill level, and it is too difficult for us to help you develop
for the reasons above. In summary, "the devil is in the details".

You might consider purchases Quicken. There is much that I do not
like about, and it might be difficult for you to set up initially.
However, it is designed to do exactly what you describe.

I'm not trying to shoot you down. I just think you need to understand
the magnitude of the undertaking and be realistic in your
expectations, both of us and of yourself. "Don't shoot the
messenger!".

 

[iliace]

Approach 1: formula. Let's say your category is in column B and your
amounts are in column C. This formula will return the % being spent
on Groceries category:

=SUMIF($B:$B,"Groceries",$C:$C)/SUM($C:$C)

Approach 2: pivot table. Keep your data continuous (no extra line
breaks, no repeating headers) and normalized (meaning, each month and
category appears on each transaction line). Go to Tools->PivotTable
(or Insert->PivotTable in Excel 2007), and follow the wizard. Then,
drag the Category into row area, and Amount into data area. Right-
click the Amount field, go to Field Settings, choose the Show As % of
Total. The only trick is that you have to refresh the PivotTable each
time you add data.

 

[Just Me]

Thanks for your reply, The problem I have is I do not know Excel well
enough to do this stuff and feel I am doing it right.

What I was hoping to find is a template someone has already developed. I
use my credit card for everything I buy, why? because I get points for
travel and other things, I pay it off every month so it works for me.

I would like to be able to import my credit card statements and then have
the program or worksheet tell me what % of my spending is spend on the
different categories.

I'm afraid what I want isn't a reality and all the budget software's or
worksheets have more than I want or need.

Maybe someday someone will create one of this types of worksheets because
more and more people use their credit cards for the same reason I do.

Thanks anyways