Sinking Funds Savings Tracker Spreadsheet

About this template

This sinking funds tracker gives every known cost its own fund and works out what to set aside each month to meet it on time. It is for anyone tired of Christmas, the car service and the insurance renewal all landing at once.

Please read: This is a tracker tool only, not financial, tax, legal, medical or any other professional advice or advisory service. It records and calculates what you enter; you are solely responsible for checking all figures, rates, dates and results and for every decision you make. By purchasing, downloading or using it, you accept these terms (your statutory consumer rights are not affected).

The dashboard

Nothing on the dashboard is typed. Show all funds or pick one, and the cards, bars and timeline follow.

• Set aside: the money in the funds against what they need
• Every fund, with set aside and still to find
• A month needed: what each fund needs each month from here, against your plan
• Coming up: the next bills due, what is set aside and whether each is on track
• When it is needed: the next twelve months, with a dot in the month each bill is due
• Put in each month, with the current month highlighted, and the running total against the target
• Next bill due: the next irregular bill, its date and its amount

A fund per known cost

Give each fund a target and a date, and the monthly amount is calculated. A bill calendar sits next to it, so nothing arrives as a surprise. Every figure on the dashboard is calculated from the tabs behind it. Nothing is typed into a summary, so the front page can never disagree with the rows it came from.

Connected tabs

Every tab reads the same transaction list, so nothing is entered twice. Beyond the funds, it is a complete annual budget and savings planner:

• Money in, money out: 2,000 transaction rows, income by pay cycle, recurring bills, a bill calendar, and accounts with balances
• Twelve months: January through December, budget against actual, variance colored, start in any month, and an annual summary
• Build wealth: the 50/30/20 split, debt payoff, sinking funds, savings goals and net worth

You get real spreadsheet files, not a PDF with a link in it: Excel and Google Sheets, each filled in and each blank and ready for yours. The filled copy is the file in the photos, so you can see how it behaves before you type anything.

It is a budget template you can start in any month, with the bill calendar and sinking funds doing the forward planning.

Works with

• Microsoft Excel 2016, 2019, 2021 and Microsoft 365, on Windows and Mac, and LibreOffice. No Microsoft 365 subscription required.
• Google Sheets with a free Google account. No Google account is needed for the Excel files.
• No add-ins, no macros and no subscription

What you download

• The Excel workbook filled with a worked example, and the same workbook blank and ready for yours
• The instruction guide, which has one-click links to the Google Sheets versions (filled and blank)
• The terms of use as a PDF

Your files are ready to download as soon as payment clears. The files are for personal use on your own devices; please do not share or resell them. Questions before or after you buy? Use our contact page and we will help.

Frequently asked questions

Does it work in Excel and Google Sheets?

Yes. You download Excel workbooks for Excel 2016 or later on Windows and Mac, and the instruction guide has one-click links to the Google Sheets versions (filled and blank).

How is the monthly amount for each fund worked out?

From the target and the date the bill is due: what is still to find is spread over the months left, and compared with what you plan to put in.

Can I see which bills are coming up?

Yes. The dashboard lists the bills due next and whether each is on track, and the timeline marks the month each bill falls due over the next twelve months.

Can I look at one fund on its own?

Yes. Pick a single fund on the dashboard and the cards, bars and timeline switch to that fund.

Is it only for sinking funds?

No. The same file includes a full monthly budget, savings goals, debt payoff and net worth, all reading one transaction list.