[Avidlearner1]

I have just started a new job where I am paid fortnightly, plus I have allowances that are paid monthly and then commission paid on a different day of the month.

I am concerned I am going to lose track of money coming in and pay bills on wrong dates, spend the amount I have set aside for savings, end up short one fortnight and abundance the next etc.

I am used to being paid monthly.

Could you please recommend a spreadsheet (that runs in excel) or program that I can enter in my payments and add what date bills are due so I can reorganise my budget. I tried playing around on excel but my system looked really confusing.

Probably a good example of why I don't work in finance

[Peridot]

I shall be stalking this thread

[Amber Spyglass]

Me too! I really need something like this!

[blithely]

Quicken does all of that and more. It's worth having if you have a complicated income. The cost to buy is an allowable tax deduction.

[itsmemacdolby]

We have a household budget spreadsheet in our Office Excel templates that looks quite good (I havent used it though). You could take a look through there.

[Peppy2]

I am in finance and I have a spreadsheet for each 6 month period. I just created it myself.

I put each fortnight's date in a column and then next to it, the pays I expect to receive next to each fortnight. You can easily add in the extra money you expect in the next column. Then I map out all current payments (mortgage/insurance/school fees/ etc.). I have my starting bank balance and each forgnight I add the income and subtract the payments. Its pretty simple once you get started.

Then just update for each 6 month period. You don't need anything fancy. Happy to email you a template if you like.

[laridae]

I use YNAB (You need A Budget). It has a free trial if you want to try it out.
You can import bank statements from Netbank etc, put in scheduled transactions, pre fill a month or so ahead then reconcile with your bank statements etc. Allocate money monthly from you income towards paying yearly bills etc.

Similar (but a bit more complicated to get going) and free is GnuCash.

[Tamzin1984]

Like Peppy2, we have an excel spreadsheet we made ourselves.

Essentially, it works on a day to day basis. The left hand column is each day's date, the rows at the top are Date, Transaction Description, Cash Movement, and then account balances.

We have it set up in four week blocks, with the weekends coloured differently, so it is easy to see where you are at. We input all regular income and outgoing expenses, such as my pay (weekly), DH's pay (fortnightly), credit card bill (we pay all other bills on our credit card, amount inputted to table is predicted based on our average spend), mortgage repayment. These are set up as recurring transactions, so you can predict your bank balance months in advance. As you get more information you can adjust your outgoings (for example, our billing month for the CC ends on the 11th, and is not due to be paid until the 26th, so leading up to the 11th we monitor the balance and adjust spreadsheet accordingly. By predicting your income and outgoing expenses it helps you to know where you're at, and whether you're actually going to have enough income to pay your mortgage next month, and how much spare you've got to play with. If you're good with excel it is easy to set up.

We balance our budget weekly with our bank accounts, making sure the account balances are accurate, and entering interest, and any cash withdrawls as you go. As each week is balanced we change the colour so we know it is correct.

My DH, the financial guru of the family, set it all up.

[firstbornbabyboy]

I have just started a new job where I am paid fortnightly, plus I have allowances that are paid monthly and then commission paid on a different day of the month.

I am concerned I am going to lose track of money coming in and pay bills on wrong dates, spend the amount I have set aside for savings, end up short one fortnight and abundance the next etc.

I am used to being paid monthly.

Could you please recommend a spreadsheet (that runs in excel) or program that I can enter in my payments and add what date bills are due so I can reorganise my budget. I tried playing around on excel but my system looked really confusing.

Probably a good example of why I don't work in finance

Try out ANZ MoneyManager (http://www.anz.com/anz-moneymanager/) or Pocketbook (https://getpocketbook.com)

[pinkpineapple]

I have one which runs in excel. I can email it when on the computer next if u send me ur email.

The bank lady was impressed with it and took it into account when I applied for my home loan.