ERE Spreadsheet Templates

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Ama
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Joined: Tue Jan 14, 2020 2:42 pm

ERE Spreadsheet Templates

Post by Ama »

I've done some digging in the forums and couldn't find an answer (hopefully I didnt miss it!) but I'm wondering if anyone has any ERE spreadsheet templates that they would like to share with others. Any FI trackers? ERE type budgeting sheets? Estimated annual expenditure sheets? This stuff can be quite tedious to set up, would be great to share the work around!

wolf
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Re: ERE Spreadsheet Templates

Post by wolf »

building your own is half the fun of it ;-)

DutchGirl
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Re: ERE Spreadsheet Templates

Post by DutchGirl »

I use firecalc.com ; it's pretty good for projections on whether/how your stash will grow.

Ama
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Re: ERE Spreadsheet Templates

Post by Ama »

@DutchGirl - thank you!! I will check out this site

@wolf - I figured this would be at least one of the answers :lol: - maybe I deal too much with templates during my current day job, I never like to start from scratch.

I'll post something here once I have it, we can build one together!

2Birds1Stone
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Re: ERE Spreadsheet Templates

Post by 2Birds1Stone »

I have a master spreadsheet that has over 30 different tabs. It's one of my favorite hobbies =D

CS
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Re: ERE Spreadsheet Templates

Post by CS »

2Birds1Stone wrote:
Fri Nov 20, 2020 4:27 pm
I have a master spreadsheet that has over 30 different tabs. It's one of my favorite hobbies =D
Haha! It was my favorite thing to do when killing time at my day job! I was the living embodiment of the dragon in the cave counting their gold.

Unfortunately for the OP, they are not too useful for anyone else, being mainly theoretical growth over time under different parameters, as well as a simple spreadsheet over time of my personal assets (different sheets).

I second the use of firecalc. It is a great starting point. Also, portfoliocharts.com, and a simple way to track your spending. I use Goodbudget, which isn't free but it helps me with business budgeting too so I take it as deduction.

jacob
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Re: ERE Spreadsheet Templates

Post by jacob »

+1 for DIY.

My first "spreadsheet" was a short fortran program that showed month, networth, and capital income given fixed labor income and spending. It would show when cap income > spending and stop at that month. My current spreadsheet is not much advanced beyond this except it calculates networth live by importing based on stock prices, exchange ratios, etc. from various online services and then projects forward using inflation, dividend income, and inflated spending.

In contrast, I copied that spreadsheet and gave it to DW. She knows how to operate it, but I'm not sure she would know (German kennen) how to change it or incorporate new ideas into it even as she knows how to update it or how it works. Skipping the creative process is self-limiting. Creating even a simple spreadsheet is in my opinion much better than using a more complicated one from someone else.

Scott 2
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Re: ERE Spreadsheet Templates

Post by Scott 2 »

personal capital does a pretty good job of abstracting away the complexity

7Wannabe5
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Re: ERE Spreadsheet Templates

Post by 7Wannabe5 »

The other benefit to making your own spreadsheets is that you can change them up. For instance, you could track daily happiness level vs spending. This is kind of like the super-nerd equivalent of a gratitude journal.

Gilberto de Piento
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Re: ERE Spreadsheet Templates

Post by Gilberto de Piento »

I viewed one a long time ago back when I use to read the MMM forums and it has been in the "shared with you" part of my google drive since then. I'm not giving it my endorsement, just providing a link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... oEFvy-nViU
Last edited by Gilberto de Piento on Sun Nov 22, 2020 10:18 am, edited 1 time in total.

Gilberto de Piento
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Re: ERE Spreadsheet Templates

Post by Gilberto de Piento »

The sheet I use is based on one that was shared publicly on these forums 5+ years ago. The link to the original in the forums has since been taken down. I don't think it is wrong to share it from my own account since I am sharing my copy of it and it has no identifying information (if it IS identifiable DM me so I can delete it): https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/ ... ucNyiNBAs/

Every month I output my transactions from Mint, filter for just that month, do a little formatting to get the columns in the right places, and paste into the +FI and Itemized Expenses sheets. I don't want to share my version because it is filled with junk from trying new calculations and creating new charts. It is a mess and it probably has errors. :?

stand@desk
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Re: ERE Spreadsheet Templates

Post by stand@desk »

I created my own spreadsheet and update it several times a day. It's a lifestyle. I have multiple tabs and multiple spreadsheets. I track my cash flow, balance sheet, holdings, trading history, adjusted cost bases, all income and taxes paid (for me and my wife), car expenses, rent, dividend history, health expenses, our daughter's investments and my parents too, also my running mileage and other things. It's second nature to update the required areas when necessary to do so.

I have taken the best ideas I have learned and am capable of understanding and added them, formatted them into my own spreadsheets. I think for someone starting out, a balance sheet is a good place to start. Plot out all of your assets and liabilities and see where your net worth is. I like to have this recorded on a yearly basis so I can see the progress I have made. I started my spreadsheet in 2005 and as you learn more and want to track more, your spreadsheet will get better and more relevant. I couldn't imagine my life without it. I feel I would be so complacent, irresponsible and vulnerable without it. Being a decent CFO of your own life is worth it.

chenda
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Re: ERE Spreadsheet Templates

Post by chenda »

stand@desk wrote:
Sun Nov 22, 2020 2:50 pm
Sorry OT derailment but do you actually stand at a desk stand@desk and have you written about it on this forum ? Because I am looking to do so due to health risks when sitting.

Ama
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Re: ERE Spreadsheet Templates

Post by Ama »

7Wannabe5 wrote:
Sun Nov 22, 2020 8:10 am
The other benefit to making your own spreadsheets is that you can change them up. For instance, you could track daily happiness level vs spending. This is kind of like the super-nerd equivalent of a gratitude journal.
This is such a beautiful thought ^^^

Agreed with @jacob 's point about DIY - that hadn't occured to me, but is so obviously important to the over all ethos here.

My thought was mostly: I have started collecting finance ideas from ERE blog articles and plugging them into a spreadsheet with the goal of integrating it into a budget spreadsheet as a constant reminder. But again, the process of finding these bits in the blog and creating the spreadsheet is probably just as important as the information itself...

stand@desk
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Re: ERE Spreadsheet Templates

Post by stand@desk »

@chenda I have stood at my desk off and on for the last ~10 years. I am currently sitting at my desk because I came upon an opportunity I couldn't refuse. I was able to obtain a high quality and free oversized desk with drawers. It is really heavy so I keep it grounded. My previous standing incarnations were with large tables. The best method I have used for a standing desk is having padded folding chairs act as the base under the table legs and using a dinner table for the "desk." Make sure the monitors are the perfect height for you ergonomically. I have been using 2-3 monitors the past ~10 years and I am always looking to improve my set-up. A large table is needed to hold the 3 monitors and a lamp. I also use a rope led light behind the monitors for additional background light. I'd advise against using too small a table because you won't have enough comfortable workspace to use.

chenda
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Re: ERE Spreadsheet Templates

Post by chenda »

@stand@desk - Many thanks for the info

stand@desk
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Re: ERE Spreadsheet Templates

Post by stand@desk »

@Chenda I also incorporate squatting in chairs sessions at my sitting desk. Several times per day.

RealPerson
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Re: ERE Spreadsheet Templates

Post by RealPerson »

2Birds1Stone wrote:
Fri Nov 20, 2020 4:27 pm
I have a master spreadsheet that has over 30 different tabs. It's one of my favorite hobbies =D
Now I am curious. What are some of the more interesting tabs? I don't think I could come up with 10 😳. My spreadsheet is DIY and I have just a couple of tabs. One page is for the pie chart of my expenses for the current year, so I am not sure if that even counts...

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Re: ERE Spreadsheet Templates

Post by unemployable »

Around late 2012 I had bombed enough interviews that I started planning on never having a real job again. Part of my transition to ERE was to model investment and spending for the rest of my life. The oldest spreadsheet I have saved is from January 2013. I saved them at the end of every year, although the last couple of years got wiped out in a hard disk crash.

Anyway, I broke my assets into two separate categories, taxable and non-taxable. Each row was a different year. Columns were beginning assets, bond return, stock return, total return from investments, income from theoretical work, spending and year-end assets. Then a few columns over, repeated for non-taxable funds (IRAs), but slightly simpler: beginning assets, growth, contributions/withdrawals and ending assets.

I had cells where I could input an inflation rate, real bond yield (bonds are Series I savings bonds mostly paying CPI+3) and separate returns for taxable and nontaxable stocks/mutual funds.

The rows went up to age 80 or so. Ages 59 and 67 were highlighted. They are of course the ages when one can pull out retirement assets without penalty and when I am eligible for Social Security... had a separate column for SS. For while it looked as if my taxable funds would run dry around age 57, but I don't worry a whole lot about this now. My big concern for so long was what to do for those bridge years. Ha, now I can take a coronavirus withdrawal.

I called up that spreadsheet from 2013 -- for the first time in many years -- and my net worth right now is some 10% higher than it modeled for the end of 2020 despite buying two cars since then and some horribly wrong asset allocations, most egregiously an overweight to international stocks vs US. This was assuming 2.5% inflation, 7.2% return on taxable assets and 8.8% on nontaxable. I suspect the primary reason I am ahead of my forecast is that I have steadily lowered my expenses.

Simple but intentionally so, and effective. The point was to see long-term trends and play with the numbers.

2Birds1Stone
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Re: ERE Spreadsheet Templates

Post by 2Birds1Stone »

RealPerson wrote:
Tue Nov 24, 2020 10:17 pm
Now I am curious. What are some of the more interesting tabs?
A detailed tab for each year that I track spending/income/savings rate/investments/account balances with monthly columns, since 2014.
4 tabs with graphs (3% WR vs. Trailing 12 month spending - both since 2014, and rolling 12 months, ditto for 4% WR)
An asset allocation tab with a nice detailed pie chart
A few tabs for combined numbers w/ wife.....asset allocation, monthly investment balances, graphs
A tab to track weight (rolling 7 day average), MTB rides, running mileage, walking distances, step count, and # of gym sessions.
A tab to track actual hours worked (can't be doing too much, yo)
A budget tab based on current 3% and 4% WR amounts
A few tabs with forward projections based on different scenarios

And a bunch more that are less interesting =D

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