Question about fixing a budget spreadsheet that got messed up

I was trying to add my new car payment to my monthly budget in my spreadsheet last week. I must have clicked something wrong because all my formulas for my savings goals broke and showed zeros. I thought it would take 10 minutes to fix, but I had to go back through three months of receipts and bank statements to find where the numbers went wrong. It actually took me almost four hours on Saturday morning to get everything working right again. Has anyone else had a simple budget update turn into a huge time sink?

2 comments

2 Comments

blakem828d ago

Ugh, that sounds like a nightmare. @skyler_baker is totally right about a backup, but I even take a new backup right before I change anything big, just in case my last save was already messed up. I name it something obvious like "Budget_BEFORE_Car_Payment" so I can't get confused.

skyler_baker8d ago

Three months of receipts" is exactly why I read you should save a backup copy before you touch any formulas.