A couple of months ago I decided to try something using a
couple of my calculating forms to keep track of my checking
account and paying my bills.

I loaded the Check Register and Budget Ledger on a separate
Excel file. This was just an experiment to see if it was easier
to keep track instead of using the paper register.

For those of you that might not know what the Budget Ledger is
let me explain. It's a calculating form where you setup your
bills in order of the date they are to be paid. Then as the
bills come in or on payday you simply make an entry for the date
and amount paid. This gives you a quick picture of what has been
paid and what is left to be paid for that month.

Check Register

Since I now use online banking this is really simple. As I
write checks or have a deposit I simply add them to the
register. Then when they appear on my online banking statement I
put an X in the appropriate box and I'm done. The form
automatically deducts or adds the transaction from my balance.

I started in February and make a new register each month
carrying over the balance to the new register. It's setup just
like a paper register so there isn't much explanation needed.

Budget Ledger

This calculating form can be a life saver and is so simple to
use. It may take an hour or so to setup because you will have to
find out all of the due dates for your bills and put them in
order.

I decided to customize the form so that I would know at a
glance if the bills were to be paid by Automatic Withdrawal,
check, Bill Pay or by phone. For my own purposes I included
which paycheck the bill was to be paid from. It also includes
the date due and amount budgeted. It's set up so that you can
run 3 months on a single form.

I've been wondering if this is something you may be interested
in. If it is I would have to put it together and write the
instructions to make it as easy to use as possible. I would
probably sell this for $3 or $4 to make sure everyone could
afford it.

There is a lot of work involved to get this ready so I want to
make sure there is some interest. If you would be interested
please email me at mailto:tre2000@midwest.net and put "Bill Pay"
in the Subject line.

By the way, if you don't have Excel I will be including a link
to a free spreadsheet program so you can download and use these
forms.

If you already have the calculating forms and know a little
about how to work with Excel you can do this yourself.