This document contains instructions for the Budget End Date
calculator. If you stumbled on this
website by accident, you can find out about the
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Introduction
The BudgetDate
The BudgetDate Calculator provides day by
day feedback, by calculating the number of days and the amount of money you
have remaining in your budget. This
calculation is done automatically by the software every day.
This software can make these calculations,
because it accesses the date from your computer, and carries out the
arithmetic, based on the date you set as the ending date of your budget.
The Budget End Date Calculator calculates a budget
for a set period of time, based on your preference, such as 30 days, 60 days,
or one week. However, monthly payments are usually required for rent, mortgage, credit
cards, bank loans, electric bills, etc.
Thus, most people will do best if they create a budget for one
month. This can involve one budget
ending at the first of the month, and another budget beginning on the first day
of the month.
You can probably learn how to use
this software intuitively, with about 30 minutes of trial and error learning.
However, the following instructions should make the process even easier. Most of the following steps
can be done in any sequence you prefer.
To enter any words or numbers in the BudgetDate
Calculator you must place the cruiser on the box (the cell) that you want
to put your numbers or words in. This
can be done by left clicking with the mouse on the relevant cell, or the arrow
keys. You can also move from one cell to
another, by repeatedly pressing the tab or enter key, until you are on the cell
you want.
Note:
You can only enter words or numbers in the light yellow boxes. The numbers and dates in red are calculated
results, based on the data you entered.
Step one:
The first step is to delete the date in the small light yellow box on
the top of the calculator, labeled BUDGET ENDS ON: Then the date, in
this box that you want your budget to end on. This must be done in one of the
following formats, 3/1/2009 or 3/1/09
Step two:
This software produces a limitless number of calculation
documents. For each budget, you should
use a new document, and save it with a new filename. The filename should correspond to the date
you started your budget. Use dashes
instead of forward slashes for the filename, such as 3-1-2008, instead of
3/1/2008. (The Windows operating system
does not permit forward slashes in filenames.)
If
you want to use a different method of creating filenames for your budget, you
may do so, but the above, is probably the best method for most people.
Step three:
This step involves saving the calculation document containing your
budget. The document is saved by holding
down the Ctrl key and pressing the s key.
You can also save the document by using the controls on the file menu,
on the upper left corner of your screen.
Keep in mind that any time
you enter anything into your budget, or remove anything from your budget, you
must save the document. If you do not
save the document the changes you made to your budget will be deleted when you
close the document.
Step four:
Describe each source of income, and enter it in the column labeled SOURCE
OF INCOME. The descriptions can usually be done with one or two words,
such as wages, stock dividends, and pension.
Step five:
Right next to the SOURCES OF INCOME column is a box labeled INCOME
IN DOLLARS. In this box you enter
the dollar amount of each source of money.
This of course should be done so that each description coincides with
the dollar amount.
Note one:
Do not put numbers in the SOURCES OF INCOME, column to be
calculated. However, you can put numbers
that are NOT to be calculated, such as: I received $100 from my new
client.
Note two:
Do not put any words in the INCOME IN DOLLARS column, because
it will interfere with the calculations.
That is in this column you can only put numbers. Do not put dollar signs either, because they
are entered automatically by the software.
Step six:
In the column labeled EXPENSES (PURCHASES, BILLS) you describe your
expenses in words, such as Electric bill, Rent, Mortgage, Automobile
repairs, etc. In the column on the
extreme right, labeled EXPENSES IN DOLLARS you enter the dollar amount for each
expense. This is to coincide with your
descriptions in the EXPENSES (PURCHASES, BILLS) column.
Note three:
Do not put numbers in the EXPENSES (PURCHASES, BILLS) column to be
calculated. However, you can put numbers
that are NOT to be calculated, such as I paid $100 for automobile repairs.
Note four:
Do not put any words in the EXPENSES IN DOLLARS column, because it
will interfere with the calculations.
That is in the EXPENSES IN DOLLARS you can only put numbers. The dollar signs are entered automatically by
the software.
Note five:
The descriptions for the SOURCES OF INCOME column, and the EXPENSES
(PURCHASES, BILLS), described above, will usually require only one or two
words. However, if you have to provide a
detailed description you can place over 500 words in each box, under these
columns. When more than a few words are
placed in a box, you must left click with the mouse on the box to see the
words. If you have more than two or
three words in a box, they will not show up if you print your calculation
document.
YOUR BALANCE
In the box labeled Your balance is: you will
see how much money you have left in your budget. This is your balance, and it will go down as
you add expenses in the EXPENSES IN DOLLARS column. Anytime you add money to your budget, in the
INCOME IN DOLLARS column your balance will increase.
If you see a negative sign
in your balance, it means that you have more expenses than the money you
budgeted. For example, if you see -$100,
it means that you are short $100, based on the data you entered into the
software. You can solve a problem of
this type, if you can obtain more money, such as through a loan, and entering the
money into your budget calculations. The
software will automatically make the recalculations, and also remove the
negative sign if your entered enough money to balance your budget.
CHANGING YOUR
BUDGET BEFORE IT ENDS:
Any calculation document opened from this software can be changed at
any time. For example, if you have
additional income or expenses during your budget period, you can enter this data,
and your budget will automatically be recalculated.
You can also extend your
budget at any time, by changing the date you entered into the box labeled
BUDGET ENDS ON: You can even extend your
budget indefinitely, by using the same document for every month, and changing
the date you entered for the new budget period. Just the opposite is also true. That is you can reduce the initial time
interval you originally planned for a budget, by changing the date to an
earlier date.
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