Pro workbook: Log, Monthly, Limits, Setup, Formulas. Sample data, real formulas.
| Expense log | Month | September 2026 | |||||||
| One row per payment. Category and method are dropdowns; the totals on the right add themselves up. | Set on the Setup sheet | ||||||||
| Date | Description | Category | Amount | Method | |||||
| 2026-09-01 | Rent | Housing | 1,400.00 | Transfer | Category | This month | Share | ||
| 2026-09-02 | Weekly shop | Groceries | 118.40 | Card | Groceries | 530.70 | 21.8% | ||
| 2026-09-03 | Bus pass | Transport | 62.00 | Card | Eating out | 86.30 | 3.5% | ||
| 2026-09-04 | Lunch with M. | Eating out | 24.50 | Card | Transport | 81.40 | 3.3% | ||
| 2026-09-05 | Electricity | Utilities | 91.20 | Transfer | Housing | 1,400.00 | 57.5% | ||
| 2026-09-06 | Streaming | Subscriptions | 12.99 | Card | Utilities | 136.20 | 5.6% | ||
| 2026-09-08 | Pharmacy | Health | 18.30 | Cash | Health | 18.30 | 0.8% | ||
| 2026-09-09 | Weekly shop | Groceries | 132.15 | Card | Clothing | 89.99 | 3.7% | ||
| 2026-09-10 | Cinema | Entertainment | 28.00 | Card | Entertainment | 28.00 | 1.2% | ||
| 2026-09-12 | Dinner | Eating out | 61.80 | Card | Subscriptions | 22.98 | 0.9% | ||
| 2026-09-14 | Trainers | Clothing | 89.99 | Card | Other | 40.00 | 1.6% | ||
| 2026-09-16 | Weekly shop | Groceries | 124.60 | Card | Total | 2,433.87 | |||
| 2026-09-18 | Taxi | Transport | 19.40 | Card | Entries this month | 18 | |||
| 2026-09-20 | Internet | Utilities | 45.00 | Transfer | Biggest category | Housing | |||
| 2026-09-23 | Weekly shop | Groceries | 139.05 | Card | |||||
| 2026-09-25 | Coffee beans | Groceries | 16.50 | Cash | Rows outside the chosen month are greyed; they still count on the Monthly sheet. | ||||
| 2026-09-27 | Gift | Other | 40.00 | Card | Formulas read rows 5–1000. Logging more? Change 1000 in the panel formulas. | ||||
| 2026-09-28 | Music app | Subscriptions | 9.99 | Card | |||||
| 2026-08-01 | Rent | Housing | 1,400.00 | Transfer | |||||
| 2026-08-06 | Weekly shop | Groceries | 127.30 | Card | |||||
| 2026-08-13 | Weekly shop | Groceries | 121.80 | Card | |||||
| 2026-08-15 | Holiday dinner | Eating out | 142.00 | Card | |||||
| 2026-08-20 | Weekly shop | Groceries | 133.45 | Card | |||||
| 2026-08-27 | Weekly shop | Groceries | 119.90 | Card | |||||
| 2026-07-01 | Rent | Housing | 1,400.00 | Transfer | |||||
| 2026-07-10 | Weekly shop | Groceries | 128.20 | Card | |||||
| 2026-07-22 | Concert | Entertainment | 75.00 | Card | |||||
| Month by category | |||||||||||
| Twelve months back from the Setup month. Every cell is a SUMIFS on the Log. | |||||||||||
| Month | Groceries | Eating out | Transport | Housing | Utilities | Health | Clothing | Entertainment | Subscriptions | Other | Total |
| Oct 2025 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Nov 2025 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Dec 2025 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jan 2026 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Feb 2026 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Mar 2026 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Apr 2026 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| May 2026 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jun 2026 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Jul 2026 | 128 | 0 | 0 | 1,400 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 75 | 0 | 0 | 1,603 |
| Aug 2026 | 502 | 142 | 0 | 1,400 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2,044 |
| Sep 2026 | 531 | 86 | 81 | 1,400 | 136 | 18 | 90 | 28 | 23 | 40 | 2,434 |
| Average | 387 | 114 | 81 | 1,400 | 136 | 18 | 90 | 52 | 23 | 40 | 2,027 |
| This month against the limits | ||||
| Spent so far, the limit from Setup, what's left, and how far through the month you are. | ||||
| Month | September 2026 | Days in month | 30 | |
| Category | Limit | Spent | Left | Used |
| Groceries | 500.00 | 530.70 | -30.70 | 106.1% |
| Eating out | 150.00 | 86.30 | 63.70 | 57.5% |
| Transport | 200.00 | 81.40 | 118.60 | 40.7% |
| Housing | 1,400.00 | 1,400.00 | 0.00 | 100.0% |
| Utilities | 180.00 | 136.20 | 43.80 | 75.7% |
| Health | 100.00 | 18.30 | 81.70 | 18.3% |
| Clothing | 80.00 | 89.99 | -9.99 | 112.5% |
| Entertainment | 120.00 | 28.00 | 92.00 | 23.3% |
| Subscriptions | 60.00 | 22.98 | 37.02 | 38.3% |
| Other | 100.00 | 40.00 | 60.00 | 40.0% |
| Total | 2,890.00 | 2,433.87 | 456.13 | 84.2% |
| Setup | |||
| The month to report on, categories with monthly limits, and payment methods. | |||
| Month (first day) | 2026-09-01 | ||
| Category | Monthly limit | Methods | |
| Groceries | 500.00 | Card | |
| Eating out | 150.00 | Cash | |
| Transport | 200.00 | Transfer | |
| Housing | 1,400.00 | ||
| Utilities | 180.00 | ||
| Health | 100.00 | ||
| Clothing | 80.00 | ||
| Entertainment | 120.00 | ||
| Subscriptions | 60.00 | ||
| Other | 100.00 |
| How the formulas work | ||
| Every formula in this workbook, in plain words. Nothing is hidden and nothing needs a macro. Formulas are shown without the leading = sign. | ||
| Where | Formula | What it does |
| Log · This month (panel) | SUMIFS($D$5:$D$1000, $C$5:$C$1000, $H6, $A$5:$A$1000, ">="&Setup!$B$3, $A$5:$A$1000, "<="&EOMONTH(Setup!$B$3,0)) | Adds amounts whose category matches the panel row and whose date is inside the Setup month. EOMONTH(date,0) is the month's last day. |
| Log · Share | IF($I$16=0,0,I6/$I$16) | This category as a share of the month's total; the IF avoids #DIV/0! on an empty month. |
| Log · Entries this month | COUNTIFS($A$5:$A$1000, ">="&Setup!$B$3, $A$5:$A$1000, "<="&EOMONTH(Setup!$B$3,0)) | How many rows fall in the month. |
| Log · Biggest category | INDEX(H6:H15, MATCH(MAX(I6:I15), I6:I15, 0)) | MAX finds the largest total, MATCH finds its row, INDEX returns the name beside it. |
| Log · grey rows | Conditional format: =AND($A5<>"", OR($A5<Setup!$B$3, $A5>EOMONTH(Setup!$B$3,0))) | Rows outside the Setup month are greyed. They still count on the Monthly sheet. |
| Monthly · Month | EOMONTH(Setup!$B$3,-12)+1 | First day of the month eleven months before the Setup month; each row steps forward one month. |
| Monthly · cell | SUMIFS(Log!$D$5:$D$1000, Log!$C$5:$C$1000, B$4, Log!$A$5:$A$1000, ">="&$A5, Log!$A$5:$A$1000, "<="&EOMONTH($A5,0)) | Same SUMIFS as the panel, with the category taken from the column header and the month from the row. The header cells read Setup, so renaming a category updates the grid. |
| Monthly · Average | IFERROR(AVERAGEIF(B5:B16,">0"),0) | Average of the months that had spending, so empty months don't drag it down. |
| Limits · Left | B6-C6 | Limit minus spent. Red when negative — you're over. |
| Limits · Used | IF(B6=0,0,C6/B6) | Spent as a share of the limit; the data bar fills to 100% and the number turns red past it. |
| Setup · named ranges | Cats = Setup!$A$6:$A$15, Limits = Setup!$B$6:$B$15, Methods = Setup!$D$6:$D$8 | The dropdowns on the Log and the headers on Monthly and Limits read these, so every sheet follows a rename. |