[Solved] Template for budget management

[sloweddy]

I am ignorant when it comes to building templates, but this is probably simple for most users. How do I build a simple template to keep track of expenses with the headings: date, description, amount, paid from, remarks.

Title Edited. A descriptive title for posts helps others who are searching for solutions and increases the chances of a reply (Hagar, Moderator).

[RusselB]

The simplest way, though maybe not the most efficient depending on what you are planning on doing with the information later, is to open Calc, then enter the headings you specified onto row 1 of the first spreadsheet.
Are you sure you need this as a template?
If you plan on doing data analysis (eg: showing how much was received from whom over the course of several dates), then you may want to look into the more complex method of using a database.

[MTP]

With office software, a 'template' is a special kind of file that, when clicked on, does not open: instead, it creates a brand new file with fill-in-the blank areas. It's commonly used for things like meeting agendas (the template has all the headers and nice font selections already taken care of, the user just fills in the specific topics for the current meeting).

I agree with Russel, from what you describe it doesn't sound like you want an office software kind of template. You might look into pivot tables (they are also called data pilots, two names for the same thing). There is a tutorial with several examples at the OpenOffice wiki: Using the DataPilot (note the navigation is by clicking on the topics in the table of contents on the right hand side of the page)

[sloweddy]

Thanks for the quick responses. I was able to download a template that was close to what I wanted, I was able to modify it by picking and choosing in Calc. When I was stumped I was able to google my question and found many answers ( OpenOffice has a big following). BTW, being new and a dummy I really didn't understand the idea of pivots after reading up on it. Oh well, another time.