Bull-Sheet: Figuring Out Excel

Hey, Keri here. Please be warned I have a very bad sense of humor - I can't add jokes like Dylan does, so here we go. We have gotten a few questions about how we set up the spreadsheet to help follow along with monthly payments and track the total months/years it will take to finish paying our debt. So, here is an example with some quick explanations on how to set up a snowball spreadsheet in excel (or numbers). This is not going to give perfect results because it is missing interest rates and does not account for the fact that we are still paying the minimum on each other loan until it is reached. However it’s great starting point and will give you a pretty close estimate.

Start by making a spreadsheet that will show you the amount of time it will take to pay your debt by only paying the minimum monthly payments.

Then make the same list, but add in a few columns to help find out what your monthly payments for each bill will be when you use the snowball method. Look at the difference between the total estimated years!

Here is the breakdown of formulas to use in excel or numbers:

I beleive there are websites and online tools that can help with this process as well. If you have any suggestions please let us know!! We have already gotten some great links to sites like Mint and Salt that look pretty useful. And the whole idea stemmed from reading a book by Dave Ramsey, who I often confuse with Gordon Ramsay, called the Total Money Makeover (it is actually amazing if you skim past the cheesy parts). We are figuring this out as we go so I am sure we will come accross more accurate ways of calculating this in the future! Proof that we are real people trying to conquer something bigger than us.