Where did it all start? From pencil, rulers, and paper to Excel spreadsheets. Excel was my daily tool bench to prepare, measure, visualize, track, and analyze relevant progress.

It takes time to develop these Excel tools and there is so much you can learn from existing spreadsheets. Not only can you learn about finances as a subject but this finished product allows you to look under the hood and have your own Aha-moments.

This Excel file includes:

• 25+ spreadsheets covering the following besides others …

Interactive Compass / Dashboard:

• Shows your financial health over a custom time period
• Your actual financial transaction as compared to the planned budget
• Review of your income and expense categories
• Net income calculation ... besides others.

The Compass dashboard with your current financial picture.

Customizable Categories for Dependable Actuals/Budget Drop-Down:

• A table where you can define your categories and sub-categories as the organizing principle for all of your financial transactions.
• The sub-/category selection is based on depending cascading drop-down menus. For example: Selecting 'Utilities' pre-populates the sub-categories menu with Electricity, Gas, Water/Sewer, Waste Removal, Heating, Storage, Heating, and Storage.
• Everybody's requirements are different. You can add/remove rows from the categories table as you see fit in order to adjust to your financial circumstances.
• Further customizations, where you can define your bank accounts, personal profiles, and vendors for each transaction.
• Review and analysis of subscriptions. Given the daily changing amount of subscriptions, this dashboard allows you to see a full list of all open, closed, and pending subscriptions and review your monthly expenses.
• Etcetera

Please enable macros when prompted.

Technical Details:

The following Excel tools have been used to prepare this file:

• Macros in Visual Basic
• Power Queries, Power Macros, and the Excel Data Model to connect it all
• Standard and Advanced Excel functions
• Office Scripts
• Pivot tables and Pivot Graphs
• Conditional Formatting
• Cascading Drop-Down menus (Data Validation Lists) for Depending Transaction Categories and Sub-Categories
• Detailed Instructions including Explanations for Deeper Learning
• Etcetera