Need help with spreadsheet to keep track of personal spending.

Question

I am trying to make a spreadsheet where I can enter what I spend at the end of each day, so I can keep track of where my money goes. I probably would have a separate spreadsheet for each month. I have a series of categories (groceries, booze, gas, movies, restaurants, etc.) I would like to be able to add a little description to each number to be even more specific than just what the category is (restaruant name, utlity name, etc). That way I can keep my categories a little less specific and have less of them. I notice that when I just add text after the number in a cell, that cell's numeric value is no longer calculated in the "TOTALS" for each column.
Is there a way to attach a text description to each numeric entry and still have the numeric value be calculated in formulas? If not, is there a way to attach a text description to each cell that is not in the cell itself? Like you click on a cell and a separate description window pops up or something? Or I am open to other suggestions if someone has made a similar spreadsheet for the purpose of tracking person spending.
Thanks for any advice,
Keith

Answer 1

Hi Keith,
You could make a table with a simpler appearance by modeling it on the checking register. Other than editing the pop-up menus to contain your categories, you'd need only two or three simple changes.
The Transactions table in this template has six columns, A through F. All formulas in this table are in column F, and calculate the running balance shown for each row.
But you want only a total for each category, not a running balance. You don't need this column, or its formulas.
Click on any cell to show the column reference tabs.
Click on the tab for column F to select that column.
Go to the Table menu and choose Delete Column.
Column A of this table contains information regarding the means of payment for each transaction. If you want to record this, keep the column, if not, delete it, as was done with Column F. To delete this column, you'll first have to undo the merge of cells A1 and B1, using the Table Inspector, or delete Row 1 in the same manner as column F was deleted. (Note that cell row references below assume Row 1 has NOT been deleted.)
Column C contains a set of pop-up menus containing the categories used for transactions. Except for "Deposit" (which you're not intending to include) and "Credit Card" (which is more a payment method than an expense category), these may be the general categories you are looking for. If not, you'll need to edit them, using the Cell Inspector. Click on cell C3, open the Inspector, and choose the Cell button ( 42 ) to open the editor.
I would edit Deposit, replacing it with a single space (as close to 'blank' as you can get using the Inspector) to use as the default setting for rows with no entries as yet. To do the edit, double click on "Deposit" in the list in the Inspector to select the whole word. Press the space bar once to replace the word with a single space.
Edit the other categories to fit your needs, using the same method.
To add a new category to the end of the list, click the + button. To completely remove a category, click on that category, then click the - button.
When you have the category menu list set to include all your categories, set the menu in C3 to the 'blank' item, then put the mouse pointer on the Fill handle (the small circle at the bottom right corner of the Selection rectangle marking the selected cell (C3). When the pointer changes to a black + sign, press the mouse button and drag down to the bottom of column C. (as you do this, you will notice the amounts in the Account Categories table change and the pie chart adjust to those changes.Here's the template after deleting columns F and A of the Transactions table, deleting the "Beginning Balance label from what's now D1, and editing the pop-up menu cells to replace Deposit with a space, Credit Card with XXX, and add a new category, Travel.
Note that I have moved the category column to the left of the description column. Not a necessary move, but one that makes sense to me. To make the move:
Select any cell to show the column and row reference tabs.
Click the reference tab for column C (Categories) to select the column.
Click again and drag the column down and left. When a thick blue line appears between columns A and B, release the mouse button to drop the column into its new location. Numbers will adjust the formulas in Account categories to match the new position of the Category column.
I've also replaced Credit Card in the Account Categories table with XXX, but have not yet added the new Travel category.
To add that category to both the table and the pie chart, select the Food, Gas, or XXX cell, then press option-down arrow to add a new row below that cell. Type travel in the new column A cell, making sure that you spell it exactly as is spelled in the pop-up menus. When you confirm that entry, the total for travel will be immediately calculated in the column B cell, and its wedge will appear on the pie chart, and in the legend for that chart:
At this point you might want to change the names of the two tables and the chart. This is done by double clicking the name of each item in the Sheets list, and typing in the new name. The names will automatically update above the tables and chart in the document.
Once your table and chart are working, you're ready to delete the dummy data from the Date, Description and Amount columns, and to set the Category pop-ups to the 'blank' entry. When you've done that, Save your file as a Template.
Open a new document from the template each month to record that month's expenses. If you need more rows for transactions, click on any cell to show the row control handle at the bottom left of the table. Drag the handle downward to add new rows to the table. The pop-up cells in the Category column will automatically fill into the new rows, and the formulas in the Account categories table will adjust to include the new rows.
Regards,
Barry