Printable ledger for teenager budget (envelope based)

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guppyguy
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Printable ledger for teenager budget (envelope based)

Post by guppyguy »

My sixteen year old wants to use and actual paper ledger to keep track of her spending, ala zero-based or enveloped style. I remember several layouts before from the 90s before we went digital but can’t seem to find anything useful online.

Any suggestions? I’ll probably just format our own if we can’t find something online but thought I’d ask first.

Nothing flowery or with lots of graphics. Just functional.
sailaway
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Re: Printable ledger for teenager budget (envelope based)

Post by sailaway »

https://www.vertex42.com/ExcelTemplates ... lopes.html

If you want the register on the envelope, rather than in the envelope, just Google.
nolesrule
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Re: Printable ledger for teenager budget (envelope based)

Post by nolesrule »

You could use ledger pads. That's what I did in the 1990s. Got them from my dad the accountant. Amazon and office supply stores most likely carry them.
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Sandtrap
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Re: Printable ledger for teenager budget (envelope based)

Post by Sandtrap »

Paper Ledger Pads, preferably green. (Amazon/Office Max/Etc).
Short orange golf pencils and a manual sharpener.

10 key calculator optional. :D

Learning actual accounting practices could be huge for a teenager let alone anyone, simply to have a deeper and broader grasp of this thing called money, income, and expenses, etc.

Mind yer debits. . . . :shock:
j :D
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mc126
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Re: Printable ledger for teenager budget (envelope based)

Post by mc126 »

How about a checkbook ledger? Should have some extras if use online banking but still have some paper checks
Sprucebark
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Re: Printable ledger for teenager budget (envelope based)

Post by Sprucebark »

I’m honestly surprised to hear a 16 year old doesn’t want to use an app for this.
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guppyguy
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Re: Printable ledger for teenager budget (envelope based)

Post by guppyguy »

Sprucebark wrote: Mon Jan 24, 2022 1:28 am I’m honestly surprised to hear a 16 year old doesn’t want to use an app for this.
She did originally but we agreed YNAB wasn't worth the cost for a teenager with few transactions and intermittent income. There are obviously lots of budgeting apps out there but I felt she need know the concepts behind an app before getting too attached with fancy interfaces/emoji/etc.

There was some consternation, for sure :)

I ended up making her a simple excel spreadsheet that she can either print out or use. She seems to be taking to it.
nolesrule
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Re: Printable ledger for teenager budget (envelope based)

Post by nolesrule »

guppyguy wrote: Mon Jan 24, 2022 5:56 am
Sprucebark wrote: Mon Jan 24, 2022 1:28 am I’m honestly surprised to hear a 16 year old doesn’t want to use an app for this.
She did originally but we agreed YNAB wasn't worth the cost for a teenager with few transactions and intermittent income. There are obviously lots of budgeting apps out there but I felt she need know the concepts behind an app before getting too attached with fancy interfaces/emoji/etc.

There was some consternation, for sure :)

I ended up making her a simple excel spreadsheet that she can either print out or use. She seems to be taking to it.
If you are already a YNAB user you can set up a budget under your account. If you aren't, I agree it's too expensive.
mc126
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Re: Printable ledger for teenager budget (envelope based)

Post by mc126 »

At one point, YNAB was free for HS and College students if you emailed them. My son did 6-7 years ago. Not sure if that’s still the case
nolesrule
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Re: Printable ledger for teenager budget (envelope based)

Post by nolesrule »

mc126 wrote: Mon Jan 24, 2022 7:48 am At one point, YNAB was free for HS and College students if you emailed them. My son did 6-7 years ago. Not sure if that’s still the case
They now give you only one year free.
fourwheelcycle
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Re: Printable ledger for teenager budget (envelope based)

Post by fourwheelcycle »

Sandtrap wrote: Sun Jan 23, 2022 10:42 am Mind yer debits. . . . :shock:
j :D
My wife had trouble remembering how to set up a T account (debits and credits). I told her when I took accounting the professor explained "you always debit the wall and credit the window". Then the professor reminded us "Of course, that rule only applies to this classroom". I still have a visual image of the classroom, with the professor in the front, a wall on the left, and a bank of windows on the right.
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Sandtrap
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Re: Printable ledger for teenager budget (envelope based)

Post by Sandtrap »

fourwheelcycle wrote: Mon Jan 24, 2022 8:13 am
Sandtrap wrote: Sun Jan 23, 2022 10:42 am Mind yer debits. . . . :shock:
j :D
My wife had trouble remembering how to set up a T account (debits and credits). I told her when I took accounting the professor explained "you always debit the wall and credit the window". Then the professor reminded us "Of course, that rule only applies to this classroom". I still have a visual image of the classroom, with the professor in the front, a wall on the left, and a bank of windows on the right.
2 years accounting and certification was required for business and finance majors.

Imagine: (pre computers)
Large darkish room, no windows, stuffy air and the rumble of an aging air conditioning system with filters never changed, students crouched over project company ledgers, stacks of green ledger sheets, #2 pencils and sharpeners, manual 10 key calculators chattering and spitting streams of long white printouts . . . the cloying heavy scent of Mrs. Smithsonian, a chain smoker, hovering and scuffed pacing behind her young charges. . . . .

j :D
Wiki Bogleheads Wiki: Everything You Need to Know
fourwheelcycle
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Re: Printable ledger for teenager budget (envelope based)

Post by fourwheelcycle »

Sandtrap wrote: Mon Jan 24, 2022 8:21 am
fourwheelcycle wrote: Mon Jan 24, 2022 8:13 am
Sandtrap wrote: Sun Jan 23, 2022 10:42 am Mind yer debits. . . . :shock:
j :D
My wife had trouble remembering how to set up a T account (debits and credits). I told her when I took accounting the professor explained "you always debit the wall and credit the window". Then the professor reminded us "Of course, that rule only applies to this classroom". I still have a visual image of the classroom, with the professor in the front, a wall on the left, and a bank of windows on the right.
2 years accounting and certification was required for business and finance majors.

Imagine: (pre computers)
Large darkish room, students crouched over project company ledgers, stacks of green ledger sheets, #2 pencils and sharpeners, manual 10 key calculators chattering and spitting streams of long white printouts . . . the cloying heavy scent of Mrs. Smithsonian, a chain smoker, hovering and pacing behind her young charges. . . . .

j :D
Ah yes - we all have memories. My wife and I met in grad school, in the early 1970s. We both took the same statistics class, and we remember having to type out computer regression commands on stacks of individual IBM cards. Then we would carry our cards over to the computer building, a cold outdoor walk from the study room where we typed up our cards, to leave our cards to be run overnight. In the morning we would go back to see if our cards "ran" properly, and to pick up our results. Too often, we learned our cards failed to run because we had missed a typo in one card out of our whole stack.
sailaway
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Re: Printable ledger for teenager budget (envelope based)

Post by sailaway »

guppyguy wrote: Mon Jan 24, 2022 5:56 am
Sprucebark wrote: Mon Jan 24, 2022 1:28 am I’m honestly surprised to hear a 16 year old doesn’t want to use an app for this.
She did originally but we agreed YNAB wasn't worth the cost for a teenager with few transactions and intermittent income. There are obviously lots of budgeting apps out there but I felt she need know the concepts behind an app before getting too attached with fancy interfaces/emoji/etc.

There was some consternation, for sure :)

I ended up making her a simple excel spreadsheet that she can either print out or use. She seems to be taking to it.
I use Google sheets whenever I want access to a spreadsheet on the go. Pull it up, make the entry. I still use the computer for analyzing the data.
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