The Only Budgeting Spreadsheet You’ll Ever Need (Seriously)

Problem with Eating Out While Working from Home00:00

This simple spreadsheet created about a month ago saves thousands of dollars per year. Working from home involves recording, editing, creating thumbnails, and kids at home, creating a catastrophe. To get out, eating out at restaurants or grabbing food to go to a park. Good cook, wife is too, not a skill issue or money issue, but need to escape the house and kids before head explodes. Eating out is one of the worst budget categories because small purchases don't feel expensive but add up. Started documenting and saw it.

Traditional budgeting fails: apps are complicated, require linking 87 bank accounts, 13 checking accounts, investment accounts. Similar to a diet relying on willpower, rules, systems that don't work long term.

Benefits of Intentional Tracking01:30

Tracking intentionally led to not wanting to eat out anymore. Started making way more food at home, embraced it, created own little restaurant inside house. Eating better, healthier, saving thousands of dollars. Awareness changed entire premise of spending. Not a money issue, could afford $10-$15 lunches to get out, not $70 steaks.

Example: Returning Amazon item at Kohl's, went to favorite authentic Chinese place with great lunch specials for $10-15. Sat down, opened Google spreadsheet on phone, decided didn't need to eat there, went home and made food. Huge change like smoker putting down cigarette or binge eater skipping donut. Simple awareness, not discipline. Not hard to open spreadsheet, enter three characters in a cell and press enter on phone.