Maintaining your monthly expenses is the key to proper budgeting. Keeping track of your expenses on a spreadsheet can help you in recognizing the areas where you are overspending and subsequently improve your savings. Google Sheets is an easy-to-operate spreadsheet program that can help you create your own monthly spending tracker.

Whether you’re on a budget or not, creating a monthly spending tracker can help you manage your finances better. Here are the steps to create a monthly spending tracker in Google Sheets:

1. Open Google Sheets – Go to Google Sheets and start a new sheet by selecting the “Blank” option.

2. Create the table headings – In the first row of your sheet, create the column headings for your spending tracker. Some column headings that you may need include date, category, expense, payment method and amount.

3. Format headings – You can change the size, color and font of your headings by highlighting them and using the formatting options on top of the sheet.

4. Create data entry fields – Underneath the headings, create data entry fields for each category. It is best to use a drop-down list for the categories to avoid typing mistakes. To do so, Click on the cell you wish to create a drop-down list for, then go to the “Data” menu and select “Data validation” > “List from a range.” Then enter the source range of your list.

5. Start recording your expenses – Enter your spending each day, under the correct categories, with dates, payment methods, expense information, and the corresponding amount.

6. Use color coding – To make your expense tracking more straightforward, don’t hesitate to use color coding. You may use different colors like red for overspending and green when you’re staying within your budget.

7. Use formulas – Google Sheets has various formulas that you may use to sort and summarize your data. For instance, you may use the “SUM” formula to calculate each category’s total expense, and so on.

8. Keep up with the month – In the end, keep a record of your expenses throughout the month to keep track of your spending. At the end of each month, create another table, copy the previous one and rename it for the upcoming month.

Creating a monthly spending tracker in Google Sheets may take a while, but once you start recording your expenses, you’ll find out how much easier it can be to manage your finances. Furthermore, all your data is automatically saved on the cloud, and you can access it from anywhere, anytime.