Lesson#211: Expert ChatGPT prompts to make a Personal Finance Sheet

Creating a comprehensive personal finance monitoring template with Excel is a great idea to keep track of your finances. I’ll guide you through the process step by step, starting with the basic setup and gradually moving towards creating a dashboard and advanced features using VBA. Please note that this is a lengthy process, so take your time and feel free to adjust things according to your preferences.

Step 1: Setting Up Your Personal Finance Workbook

Sheet 1: Income & Expenses

In this sheet, you’ll track your income and expenses.

1. Column A: Date
2. Column B: Description
3. Column C: Category (e.g., Income, Groceries, Rent, Utilities, Entertainment, etc.)
4. Column D: Income (+)
5. Column E: Expenses (-)

In Cell E2, enter the formula to calculate net cash flow:

=D2-SUM(D3:D100)-SUM(E3:E100)

Sheet 2: Budget

Here you can set your monthly budget for different categories.

1. Column A: Categories
2. Column B: Budget Amount

Sheet 3: Summary & Charts

This sheet will display a summary and charts based on your data.

1. Cell A1: “Personal Finance Summary”
2. Cell A3: “Income”
3. Cell B3: Formula to sum up income data: =SUM('Income & Expenses'!D:D)
4. Cell A4: “Expenses”
5. Cell B4: Formula to sum up expenses data: =SUM('Income & Expenses'!E:E)
6. Cell A5: “Net Cash Flow”
7. Cell B5: Formula to calculate net cash flow: ='Income & Expenses'!E2

Step 2: Creating a Dashboard

Now let’s create a visual dashboard in the “Summary & Charts” sheet.

1. Insert a Pie Chart:
   • Select cells A3:B4.
   • Go to the “Insert” tab, choose “Pie Chart,” and select the 2D Pie Chart.
2. Insert a Bar Chart:
   • Select cells A3:B4.
   • Go to the “Insert” tab, choose “Bar Chart,” and select the “Clustered Bar” option.

Step 3: Advanced Dashboard Customization and VBA Integration

Creating an advanced dashboard and integrating VBA for automation involves coding. Here are some basic examples of what you could do:

1. Custom Formatting: Format cells, charts, and titles to make your dashboard visually appealing.
2. VBA for Automation: Open the Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) editor (Alt + F11) and write macros to automate tasks. For example, you could write a VBA macro to automatically categorize transactions based on keywords and populate the appropriate category column.

Sub CategorizeTransactions()
    Dim ws As Worksheet
    Set ws = ThisWorkbook.Sheets("Income & Expenses")
    
    Dim lastRow As Long
    lastRow = ws.Cells(ws.Rows.Count, "A").End(xlUp).Row
    
    Dim i As Long
    For i = 3 To lastRow
        Dim description As String
        description = ws.Cells(i, "B").Value
        
        If InStr(description, "Salary") > 0 Then
            ws.Cells(i, "C").Value = "Income"
        ElseIf InStr(description, "Groceries") > 0 Then
            ws.Cells(i, "C").Value = "Groceries"
        ' Add more categories and keywords here
        Else
            ws.Cells(i, "C").Value = "Other"
        End If
    Next i
End Sub

Step 4: Formatting the Professional Dashboard Template

Formatting a professional template involves attention to detail and design principles. Here are some tips:

1. Consistency: Use a consistent color scheme, font, and layout throughout the dashboard.
2. Labels and Titles: Use clear and concise labels and titles for all sections.
3. Conditional Formatting: Apply conditional formatting to cells to highlight specific data points (e.g., red for negative cash flow).
4. Cell Borders: Use borders to separate sections and enhance readability.
5. Charts: Customize chart colors, legends, and data labels to make them informative and visually appealing.

Remember that this is just a starting point, and you can customize and expand upon these steps to create a personal finance monitoring template that suits your needs. Additionally, due to the complexity of advanced dashboard design and VBA programming, you might need to refer to resources like Excel forums, tutorials, and documentation for further guidance and support.