Problem: Family budgets are very important in our daily lives. It is imperative to keep track of expenses to ensure the ability to pay bills on time and to be able to make various purchases.
In this assignment you have an opportunity to use an Excel worksheet to create a fictional budget that not only pays for necessities but also ensures a leftover amount for various luxuries.
In your worksheet, include the following information about how you plan to spend your money:
1) Identify various categories (e.g. grocery, household, dining, miscellaneous) that one spends money for a one week period.
2) Start on a date you specify.
3) Schedule the amount of money you estimate it will take for you to pay those categories each day.
4) After you have created the budget, sum the total amount of dollars to be spent overall throughout the week. Then sum each individual category.
5) Produce a percentage of each category that money is being budgeted (e.g. 15% dining, 18% grocery, etc.). Remember that the percentages need to add up to 100%.
6) Illustrate the percentages in a pie chart
In your Excel worksheet, remember to use the following key worksheet elements:
- Columns, rows, and cells
- Cell formatting using font, fill color, cell merge, data type, and borders
- Formulas to produce your sums and percentages
- Pie chart to illustrate percentages
- Comments for explanations