Ratio vs Excel for a budget
Written on by Ratio. Every example was run through Ratio that day.
Most people build their first budget in Excel. It works, but a monthly budget is twenty numbers and three answers: what comes in, what goes out, what's left. In Ratio you write those twenty numbers as lines of text, with their names, and the answers stay up to date as you type.
| Ratio | Excel | |
|---|---|---|
| Starting a budget | Type “Rent 1150” and the next line | Lay out columns, then write formulas |
| Adding it up | sum under the lines | =SUM(B2:B9), updated when you add a row |
| Categories | #food on the line, then sum #food | A category column and SUMIF |
| What's left | left = income - spent | =B1-B10 |
| Costs in other currencies | “Netflix 15.49 usd”, converted at live rates | Look up the rate and type it in |
| A chart | pie under a block | Insert, Chart, pick the range |
| Splitting costs with someone | @names and split | Extra columns and formulas |
| Years of transactions, bank imports | No | Yes |
| Price | $14.99 once, on Mac, Windows and Linux | Part of a Microsoft 365 subscription |
A month in twelve lines
Words on a line are labels, so you can write the bill's name next to its amount. sum adds up the lines above it, and every line below updates when you change one.
| # November | |
| income = 3400 | 3,400 |
| Rent 1150 #home | 1,150 |
| Utilities 160 #home | 160 |
| Groceries 450 #food | 450 |
| Eating out 180 #food | 180 |
| Transport 95 | 95 |
| Phone 25 | 25 |
| spent = sum | 2,060 |
| left = income - spent | 1,340 |
| left as % of income | 39.41% |
In Excel this is two columns, a SUM over a range, and a cell that subtracts one cell from another. Add a row below the range and the total misses it unless you widen the formula.
Categories without SUMIF
Put a # word on the lines that belong together. sum #food adds up only those, wherever they are in the sheet.
| income = 3400 | 3,400 |
| Rent 1150 #home | 1,150 |
| Utilities 160 #home | 160 |
| Groceries 450 #food | 450 |
| Eating out 180 #food | 180 |
| sum #home | 1,310 |
| sum #food | 630 |
| sum #food as % of income | 18.53% |
Write pie under a block to draw its lines as a pie chart right in the sheet.
Yearly bills and a savings goal
| yearly insurance = 600 | 600 |
| yearly insurance / 12 | 50 |
| savings = 450 | 450 |
| savings * 12 | 5,400 |
| goal = 5000 | 5,000 |
| goal / savings | 11.11 |
Saving 450 a month, a 5,000 goal takes just over eleven months. Change savings and the answer moves with it.
Use Ratio when
You plan a month, a trip or a move, and want to see every number with its name on one page. You change the numbers often, pay for some things in another currency, or share costs with someone. More examples in the budget calculator guide.
Use Excel when
You track every transaction for years, import statements from your bank, or need filters and pivot tables. Many people do both: plan in Ratio, record in Excel. See also Ratio vs a spreadsheet for quotes, conversions and other everyday sums.
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Questions
Is Ratio better than Excel for a personal budget? For a monthly plan you change often, it is quicker: you type lines instead of laying out cells, and names replace cell references. For years of transactions or bank imports, Excel is the better tool.
Can I import my Excel budget into Ratio? Copy the two columns from Excel and paste them into a sheet. Each row becomes a line, like “Rent 1150”, and sum adds them up.
Does Ratio connect to my bank? No. Ratio runs on your own computer and you type the numbers yourself. Nothing leaves your machine.