Got this note recently, and it reminded me what a difference adding a little color to things can make ;)

Hi Jay,

I just wanted to take the time to thank you for the free template that I found on YouTube.

I think this will get me to value money a lot more and I really like how you used “sexy income” because I think it’s a great mindset shift to make when valuing money and finance.

Thanks again. I’m really looking forward to using this everyday! I think I might add-on a daily log of my expenses and also even enter notes as to why I decided to take on that expense.

Take care.

David

Love it!

And as you can see from the snapshot up top the spreadsheet is nothing fancy, but boy – look at all that color!! Literally and figuratively! Lol..

I remember seeing a similar one 15 years ago before I even started this blog and wow did it make all the difference in the world to me. Again, not because it was set up differently or better or anything, but just because it was so bold and happy and *inspiring* looking! It taught me you don’t always have to stick with the tried and true (and boring!) with this stuff. It’s fine and it’ll work, but you’ll have a MUCH better chance sticking with it if you have some fun along the way :)

And how cool this guy wants to take it a step further and add in expense logs* to it?! It’s all about adapting it to your own needs for better motivation… In fact, this entire spreadsheet was built out of that same one I found all those years ago, just tweaked more to my liking with the colorful words and addition of a built-in net worth tracker! Which was the element that REALLY kept me going year after year, until I eventually just focused on that part only and got rid of my budget altogether 😂

At any rate, you can check out this spreadsheet, and download it (for free), below if you’re looking for a new one… I always recommend *manually* tracking your finances for at least 3 months until you get a good sense of it all before moving to more automation:

J’s Financial Snapshot Spreadsheet

And be sure to tweak it away! There are no rules with this stuff – it’s your world, baby!! Do what you need to do to stay motivated 👊

*The expense logging reminded me of another idea: adding notes to your net worth timeline! Here’s what mine looked like back in April of 2019 – it’s an interesting exercise to go down :)

And here some other juicy extras you can track in your spreadsheet as well:

• Your FI date
• Your credit score
• Your Debt-to-income ratio
• Your Lifetime Wealth Ratio™ (Net Worth ÷ Total Lifetime Income Earned!)
• Net Worth forecasts
• And my personal favorite –> the years left until your expected death ;)

Happy tracking!!