One of the biggest challenges to designing a well-balanced and flexible budget are daily expenses. They cannot easily be pre-determine, meaning it is hard to plan for them, and even harder to limit.

One method to control daily expenses is to allocate a certain amount of spending cash each month. But, who wants to carry a ton of cash with them everywhere? Having a month’s worth of cash on hand doesn’t promote savings economy — there is no incentive to conserve because there’ll be a new cash-wad to spend in a few weeks.

Another method is to keep a daily spending record. This method is more secure but troublesome because it is time consuming. Manually keeping track of various transactions by check, credit, debit, and cash can be daunting if not hopeless.

Computers can be great for budgeting and planning family or personal finances. A fairly simple spreadsheet can keep track of and categorize transactions for easy comparison with ongoing budgetary goals. Still though, who has time to keep a spreadsheet updated? After a full day in the office, nobody wants to sit in front of the computer at home and enter receipts either. If you wait to do it on a weekly or monthly basis the task quickly gets overwhelming. Also, what if the family has more then one spender?

Google Spreadsheets has an answer. With a gmail account users can set up spreadsheets stored and backed up online that are accessible anywhere the internet is accessible. Bonus, more than one person can have access to the same spreadsheet simultaneously! This is a simple tool that allows all of the family’s spenders to enter transactions quickly, easily, and most crucially for the budget-minded on a regular basis.

I use mine to keep track of fixed expenses and discretionary expenses. I can update the spreadsheet from school, the coffee shop, work, or home. Since the spreadsheet is always up-to-date it calculates for me a recommended daily spending limit. (I’m a budget geek so it’s the first thing I check in the morning — even before email.)

Based on my recent expenditures, it projects where I’ll be at the end of my budgeting period. Click here for an example. Budgeting is fun for me this way because the spreadsheet keeps track of my progress and I make a game by competing with myself for personal bests.

Also, at the beginning of each budgeting period I pre-enter expenses that are irregular but somehow anticipated. For example, in June I know I’ll celebrate my partner’s birthday with a special dinner and the theatre. This expense isn’t regular, but is substantial enough to affect my daily spending limit. By pre-entering birthdays, anniversaries, and other special expenses I don’t have to worry about spending too much when the special day arrives.

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Adam Nelson, based in Wisconsin, is a motivational speaker and a personal coach. He founded Treading Together LLC in 2007 to help others become successful motivational speakers and coaches. Next week he’ll introduce a bi-weekly series discussing “Weekend Entrepreneurism.”