Anissa Bougrea

Hi all, welcome!

As an academic, this is not my usual content. However, using my website was the most convenient way to share my highly requested, extremely simple, free Excel Template to help you take control of your finances.

I have used a semi-fictional overview of expenses for it to make more sense. You can replace the inputs with your own expenses. Some guidance:

• The first column is for recurring monthly costs, be as detailed as possible and include all types of subscriptions. It will help you cancel all those not needed.
• The second column is for yearly recurring expenses, as I live in a country with good healthcare provisions, my yearly costs are incredibly low (these are real numbers!). It is simply an overview, writing it down helps you know when to expect which bills, and not to be caught by surprise throughout the year.
• The third column is for every single expense, especially the first months of tracking your finances, it is important to know where your money is going. For example, I am not too worried about my little snack treats or take-away coffees because they usually only add up to about €60-€70. It helped me release my guilt about these expenditures, as they bring me so much joy, and focus my attention on the right spending “issues”. I label them with a code, found to the right, and then -again very simply- at the end of the month use a calculator to count up every category. Yes, there are fancy Excel formulas, but for me it’s a good mindful activity to sit down and really see/feel where your spending is going. You can move the column to another tab if you’d like, or just add rows – it usually gets lengthy.
• The fourth (left bottom) tracks my investments and savings, you can go into more detail here. It differs monthly based on how much I spent, and if I made any extra income (jobs) or received some money (taxes, gifts etc).
• The fifth (middle bottom) column shows me the big picture. Type in your income, then subtract all your expenses (it automatically adds up all the expenses from the first column), then I subtract 10% of my income for saving / investing, and 10% for Zakaat (“giving”) or the 10% income pledge. This is optional of course, but I like it. I do prefer to give it monthly rather than annually, as is reflected in my template. Finally, as food, transport, etc. is all included in my fixed expenses, it shows me exactly how much I have left each month for extras / splurging after savings and Zakaat.
• The sixth and final column then (right bottom) is for my Zakaat. I fill out my gifting in this column and the total automatically subtracts until it gets to zero. As I’m sharing this Template freely, I’d also like to share some charities that I like:
  • Enchanté: You pay for a “delayed” coffee or meal, and people with less means can pass by the restaurant / place and ask if there are any coffees / meals left. You can also donate a school lunch.
  • Help Oday Al Zayyan, a young doctor in Gaza, Palestine. He has kept volunteering at the hospital and is incredibly admirable. You can follow his daily (heartbreaking) updates via Instagram.
  • Brothers of Solidarity: they provide weekly meals for the homeless and food packages for other people in need, with your donations.

Enjoy!