Getting a handle on living expenses can be a challenge as a new widow. Sources of income may have changed, perhaps drastically. And now you need to fit living expenses, which also have probably changed, into the money that comes in every month. All of this while grieving!

A good place to start is by documenting recent living expenses in as much detail as possible. However, it’s easy to overlook or simply forget about many categories of expense like holiday and birthday gifts, property taxes and tire replacements for the car. Having a detailed guide or worksheet should certainly help! 

The Widowed Community Living Expenses Worksheet provides a very detailed list of expenses to help jog your memory. The Excel spreadsheet version allows you to enter yearly or monthly amounts for each category of expense and then calculates and provides you with your average monthly spending amount. If you don’t like using spreadsheets, the PDF version gives you the option to print to paper and record your expenses with pen or pencil (you’ll need to make your own calculations with the PDF version).

Digging into bank and credit card statements is time consuming, but the result is often eye opening. Many people are amazed at how much they spend on this or that or they had no idea they spent $x,xxx (or $xx,xxx!) every month. Knowing where and how much you spend allows you to start managing and controlling your spending (at least for those of us who don’t have endless financial resources!).

To receive your free Living Expenses Worksheets, enter your email address below and click the Download Now button. The downloaded file is a Zipped file containing two separate files, one Excel spreadsheet and one PDF. Open the Zipped folder and save the Excel spreadsheet and PDF files to your computer in the folder or location of choice. Once the two files are saved to your computer, you can open and use them properly.

Note to Windows Users: If you let your browser open the zipped folder (instead of saving the two files inside the zipped folder to your computer), you may run into an issue. Also, if you have the file Preview Pane turned on in your Windows computer, trying to open one of the files from the Zipped folder may display an error stating the file is already open. These are common issues when dealing with downloaded zipped files. I recommend turning off the Preview Pane through your View menu and saving the two files to your computer before trying to view them. 

Additional Financial Planning Tools for the Recently Widowed