College Financial Spreadsheets

I helped Ryan and Katie prepare spreadsheets to keep track of their income, college expenses, living expenses, etc. There are actually 3 spreadsheets that they keep up to date, all with different purposes. Sometimes less is more, but when it comes to spreadsheets, I usually believe the more the better. These spreadsheets are similar to those I use for our household, just revised for their college situation.

Monthly spending

This spreadsheet is used for their monthly expenses. It breaks their spending down into 4 categories. Groceries, Eating Out/Dates, Gas/Transportation, and Miscellaneous. When Katie started college a year ago, we estimated her monthly expenses to be about $200, knowing that there was a good chance that we would have to revise that estimate. However, both Ryan and Katie have decided to stick to a monthly budget of $200 and it has seemed to work well for them.

Annual income and expenses

This spreadsheet is their annual income and expenses broken down by month. I really like this spreadsheet because it gives a snapshot view of how things have been going financially during 2019. Some of this information comes from their monthly spending spreadsheet, but most of it is new information. The areas in blue keep track of total categories. The green account balances track their bank accounts, which indicates if they have been spending or saving money overall. The total columns on the right give a running tally of their spending in each category.

4 Year College financial plan

This final spreadsheet details every month from when they started college until they plan on graduating. It helps them visualize the overall picture of how long it is going to take them to graduate and how much money they need to get there. It shows how much more money they will need every month once they take over their own housing payments after the first year. It shows them how long their savings will last if they did not work during school to contribute to their checking and savings account. The spreadsheet is already filled out with estimated numbers until graduation, but the hypothetical numbers are replaced with actual numbers as each month passes. I am a big believer in the Coveyism “Begin with the end in mind” and this spreadsheet helps them with the big picture.

Track income and expenses

Spreadsheets do not work for everyone, and these spreadsheets are not perfect. We have tweaked them quite a bit over the past year and I am sure other changes will be made in the future. The important thing is to have some kind of method to keep track of income and expenses and to make sure they understand what future expenses they need to be prepared for. If there is no tracking, it will be impossible to know how much money was spent for college. Even more concerning, however, our kids might graduate with a degree and embark on a career having no idea how to manage their own finances. I helped Ryan and Katie manage their spreadsheets the first few months, but now they don’t need my help at all. I believe this is an essential component of their college education.