Annual Budget Calculator

Description
The inspiration for this model is the finding from Stanley and Danko's "The Millionaire Next Door" that Millionaires tend to know exactly what they spend annually on each and every budget category.

"Do you know exactly how much your family spent last year for each and every category of product and service? Without such knowledge, it's difficult to control your spending. If you can't control your spending, you're unlikely to accumulate prodigious amounts of wealth."
--(see pages 78-83 of "The Millionaire Next Door" by Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko, 1996 Pocket Books)

Typical budgeting models account for spend on a monthly basis, but I haven't run into many models that aggregate those monthly totals into an annual view. During my days as a business consultant, I would help organizations with multi-year projects manage those budgets, so this template is built similarly to what we would put together for those clients. Every single purchase you make is categorized and then summed up and displayed month over month for 3 years (this can be customized by the user to add additional years to keep using as long as desired).

Additionally, financial gurus like Dave Ramsey also tend to recommend saving 3 to 6 months' worth of expenses, and this budget will help you clearly see what an average month of expenses looks like, allowing you to adequately save up a sufficient emergency fund.