A former manager of mine was fond of trite managementspeak and one he used often was 'a fool with a tool is still a fool'.
Not meaning to insult you but you need to get your head around where your money is going and if it is being spent on the right things before you can use a spreadsheet or any software to help you.
There are 2 adults and 2 kids and one mortgage and two cars hanging out of one salary in our household.
Our household budget was assessed by
- looking back at utility bills and determining an average spend per month, e.g. add up last 6 2-monthly bills and divide by 12. For us this includes ESB, Dublin Gas, ntl, BT, alarm monitoring fees & TV licence. Whatever figure you arrive at, round up to the nearest 50 to allow for contingency. That comes out at 350 per month.
- look back at supermarket bills on the credit card statements and determine an amount for average spend per week. Multiply by 52 and divide that total by 12 for average monthly spend. Again round up for contingency. For us, that figure is 650.
- 350 + 650 = 1000 per month. I lodge a larger amout to my wife's account each month and she manages it after that. I track the spend (one spreadsheet) and let her know every now and then how things are going. Birthdays and Christmas can blow a hole in it so don't spend down to zero each month.
- I pay for all other things out of my account, such as mortgage, insurance, car (tax, insurance, maintenance), medical (GP, prescriptions), nights out, treats for kids.
Windfalls (dividends, deposit interest, PRSI reduction, bonuses) get banked and saved for rainy days and birthdays and Christmas.