Spreadsheets simplify creating a budget while organizing planned income and expenses, and you have many good spreadsheets to choose from.
You do not have to be a spreadsheet pro to use one to create a budget. If you know some spreadsheet basics you can use a spreadsheet to create a budget, or use a spreadsheet template to speed up creating your budget. And, if you decide not to create a budget with a spreadsheet, you can always put together a budget on paper.
When most people hear the word, "spreadsheet", they think of Microsoft Excel. Excel is very popular and powerful spreadsheet software but is expensive, especially if you would be buying it just for home use and to prepare your budget. You do not need the latest version of Excel, so you can save money by shopping for the previous version or checking eBay for a legal copy. Your PC may have come with Microsoft Office, which includes Excel, pre-installed as well.
Microsoft Works is another suite of applications (word processor, spreadsheet, graphics, etc.) which include a spreadsheet that may have come installed on your computer, and if it didn't it will cost much less than Microsoft Office while being adequate for the average home user. The spreadsheet in Microsoft Works is not as powerful as Excel, but it can handle setting up a budget and with ease.
Open Office Calc is a spreadsheet that is powerful, free and runs on Windows, Mac and Linux platforms. Open Office Calc can easily be used to create a budget, and is part of an office suite developed by an international team of volunteers and sponsors including Sun Microsystems. Calc can open files created in most versions of Excel as well as other spreadsheets, and Calc can save spreadsheets in these formats.
Google Spreadsheets is a free online spreadsheet that can be used with any operating system that runs a compatible browser. You will need to sign into Google Spreadsheets with a free Gmail account. Google Spreadsheets will import and export Excel and OpenOffice files as well as .csv and .txt formats, so you can save a copy on your hard drive. Google Spreadsheets stores your data securely and you can keep your budget spreadsheet private or you can share it by allowing only certain people to view the budget, or edit the budget. A Google Spreadsheet can be embedded in a blog or website as well.
