With all the interest in Tik Tok in recent weeks, I decided to check it out. While yes, there are tons of short videos that are not necessarily worth watching if you are serious about most things, but I was surprised to find a Millennial on there who created a serious budget planner. I have used it for about a week and wanted to share her work with you to give you an alternative to the Excel-based planner I have promoted in the past. While I still feel that the Excel planner is more suited for those who are not tech-savvy, this one is an option for those who are.
Just as a recap, the Simple Planning suite of Excel spreadsheets that I have used for several years do a lot more than the one I found on Tik Tok. Still, they are limited to someone with Microsoft Office, their computer, or a computer with an Internet connection. I do still highly recommend Simple Planning due to the fact you get much more than a budget spreadsheet. Besides, you will also receive spreadsheets that will assist you in calculating your net worth, which is useful in your financial planning activities, A tax panner so that you can estimate your tax liability to better prepare for when you file your federal income tax. An investment, 401(k), and retirement calculators so that you can estimate what these will be worth as you approach retirement, helping you plan on what you need to save to achieve your goals. There is also a mortgage calculator that can help you determine how much you can afford to purchase a house. And finally, a calendar planner to help you stay organized and plan your important events. All of these can be yours with free updates and cloud storage for easy access from any computer with Internet connection for the low price of $59.95, and it is available at http://bit.ly/SimplePlanning.
I still feel that for most people that Simple Planning will be a good purchase regardless of it. You will love the new budget tool I discovered on Tik Tok at https://www.tiktok.com/@debbbag?lang=enag. Here is a young graphic artist you also created one amazing Google Docs based budget planner utilizing Sheets and Forms, which are free from good with a storage area in Google Drive for storage of your budget. Deb has created a way for you to set up your budget on a computer and then use your smartphone to input your income and expenses right from your phone, even allowing you to capture a photo of your receipt and link it directly to that expense. As I said, I have used this for the past week, and it is simple to use once set up.
As for setting it up, I am not exactly tech-savvy, but with the help of Deb’s tutorial videos, I was able to figure it out without much of a problem. And once set up, all I can say is wow! This budget tool works so well. I think I will use it and also keep my Simple Planning for its other features because they are extremely helpful in what they do that this does not do, especially in the areas of investments, retirement, and mortgage planning. Those, in addition to the net worth spreadsheet, make them valuable for a more comprehensive financial planning approach. But Deb’s budget and the input of the income and expenses just amazed me in its simplicity once set up. To get her amazing spreadsheet, she has set up a page devoted to downloading the spreadsheet with several tutorial videos to help the technically challenged like me. To get this amazing budget go to http://deborahho.com/expense-tracker.
While Deb does not charge for her amazing spreadsheet, even though you easily could, she does as that you buy her a $4 coffee, and you can do that at https://ko-fi.com/debbbag. If you decide to use this and you love it as much as I do, please support her with a nice cup of Joe.
As you know, I have always said that for anyone to be successful in their financial planning that they need to be aware of where their money goes. So, you can see that this is an important piece of a values-based comprehensive financial plan. If you need assistance, reach out to a fee-only Registered Financial Consultant. And to join our weekly email newsletter, fill out the form below.
