Creating a budget: A step by step guide

Setting up budget categories

	Step-by-step instructions	Links to new concepts
1	Start MS Excel (the spreadsheet programme)	Start Excel
2	Click on cell A1 and type in BUDGET.	Cell address Labels and values
3	Click on cell C1 and type in ACTUAL.
4	Type the word Description in cell A2.
5	Type the word January in cell C2.
6	Fill in the names of the other months using Autofill	Autofill
7	In cell A5, type the name of Senzo (or your own name).
8	In cell A6, type the name of Mmaseten (or your wife/husband's name).
9	Type the words Total Income in cell A7.
10	Type the word Expenditure in cell A9.
11	In cells *A10* to *A16*, type the following living expenses (one in each cell): Home loan, Food, Electricity, Water, Rates, Telephone, Housekeeping (you could type in other categories according to your personal expenses)
12	In cells *A17* to *A24*, type the following other expenses (one in each cell): School fees, motor vehicle, petrol, insurance, life insurance, investments, medical, clothing (you could type in other categories according to your personal expenses)
13	Type the word Total Expenditure in cell *A25*.
14	Type the word Savings in cell *A26*.
15	Adjust the width of *Column A* if it is too narrow	Resize column
16	Select *Column A* and B.	Select
17	Click in the *Bold* icon on the toolbar.
18	Select *Row 1 and 2*.
19	Click in the *Bold* icon on the toolbar.
20	Make *Rows 7 and 25* Bold
21	Change the text colour of Rows 2, 4 and 9 (to blue), and *Cells A7 and A25* (to red)	Text colour
22	Draw a vertical line to the right of *Column B* (select Column B first)	Line drawing
23	Draw horizontal lines at the bottom of *Row 6* (single line) and *Row 25* (double line)	Line drawing

Entering the budget amounts

	Step-by-step instructions	Links to new concepts
24	Type in 3000 in cell B5 and type in 4500 in cell B6
25	Copy the same amounts under each month	Autofill
26	Type in the following budget amounts in column B, starting at B10 (or substitute with your own): Home Loan - 1200 Food - 1100 Electricity - 350 Water - 100 Rates - 90 Telephone - 600 Housekeeping - 300 School Fees - 150 Motor Vehicle - 1300 Petrol - 750 Insurance - 250 Life Insurance - 500 Investments - 500 Medical - 100 Clothing - 200
27	Type in the amounts that do not change from month to month under the name of each month i.e. Copy the amount 1200 in B10, to C10 up to G10 Copy the amount 1300 in B18, to C18 up to G18 Copy the amount 250 in B20, to C20 up to G20 Copy the amount 500 in B21, to C21 up to G21 Copy the amount 500 in B22, to C22 up to G22	Autofill

Totalling the budget

	Step-by-step instructions	Links to new concepts
28	Select Cells B5 to B7
29	Click on the Autosum icon (Note the formula which this creates by looking at the input line)	Range formula
30	Select Cells B10 to B25
31	Click on the Autosum icon
32	In cell B26, type: =B7-B25 and press Enter (do you understand why you typed this formula? If not, send e-mail to your group about this and see if you can find answers to your questions)	Simple formula
33	Copy the contents of Cell B7 to Cells C7 to H7	Autofill
34	Click on Cell B7 and look at the formula in the input line. Then click on Cell C7 and notice how Excel automatically changes the column reference when you copy the formula to a new column.	Input line Formula Copying Formulae
35	Copy the contents of Cell B25 to Cells C25 to H25	Autofill