Setting up a budget spreadsheet

My dad works for IBM and he uses spreadsheets for everything.  I guess I inherited that from him, because I love making spreadsheets to organize my life.  I recently blogged about how I planned out the categories of my budget  for my New Year’s Resolution of learning to control my spending and save money.   Now, I’ve put all that together into a spreadsheet, so that every week, I can enter what I’ve spent and where.

Here’s a screen shot of the main page of my budget:

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By entering what I spend each week, I can make sure that I’m not going over the amount I have budgeted.  I’m keeping the non-essentials part of the budget flexible by budgeting for the total spend per month, as opposed to the amount spent on each category.  

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This second part of my budget is where I keep track of exactly what I am buying, when and where.  That way, I can track my spending and figure out if there’s some areas where I need to be more reasonable and cut back.

I may just be an organization freak when it comes to spreadsheets, but using this method really helps me to be disciplined.

Sorry if this post was a bit on the dry side.  I promise more style related stuff will be coming soon!

Jewelry Organization

My jewelry collection is pretty small by most standards.  However, I still feel the need to keep it organized so that I can easily see what my options are without having to dig through a bunch of necklaces and bracelets.  The fact that my bracelet/bangle collection is steadily growing also mandated finding a good system.  Here’s what I do:

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This shot gives a general overview of how I organize my jewelry.  I hang my necklaces from a piece I put together with a some scrap wood I found years ago while hiking, some screw-in hooks, hemp and a staple gun.  This is one area that I see growing a lot, as I slowly acquire new staple pieces from Etsy.

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This jewelry box is one of the ones that I inherited from my grandmother on my mom’s side.  While I love it for its sentimental value, it doesn’t leave me much room to grow.  I’ve been on the look out at antique shops and garage sales for something a little larger, but haven’t found anything yet.  I keep my earrings, rings, pendants and shawl pins in here.

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My favorite part of my system is my new bracelet holder that I just made a few weeks ago.  I had been inspired by some metal jewelry trees that I had seen on Etsy, but they were out of my price range and didn’t really fit in with my aesthetic.  I had a bunch of bamboo knitting needles that I bought at a Joann’s closeout, so I used them, some crafting wire and a cool soda bottle to make this handy holder.  Eventually I would like to glue the bottle to a heavier base, because I’ve knocked it over a couple times.  Still, it’s very functional, very attractive, and lets me see all my bracelets at a glance without looking cluttered.

What’s your jewelry organization system?

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