Back-to-School Sinking Fund Planner

Back-to-school is not a shopping trip, it is a $915 list that lands in one month — unless you start in November. This planner lists every cost per child (shoes $85, the clothing refresh $180, supplies, fees, the calculator), ticks off what is already bought, and turns what is left into one calm monthly number: $682 still to set aside, $75.78 a month for 9 months, $37.89 a paycheck. August stops being an emergency.

What it does for you:
– The list, per child: Child 1’s list totals $384, Child 2’s $316, shared costs $215 — so when the number feels big you can see exactly whose list is driving it, and trim the right one.
– Bought means bought: tick Bought? and Still To Buy drops instantly — the sample list is already down from $915 to $822, and every purchase lowers the savings target with it.
– One monthly set-aside, honestly counted: months left are counted from YOUR fund start to YOUR school-year start date (9 in the sample), not a generic 12 — and the per-paycheck figure ($37.89) rides payday.
– Progress you can feel: bought + saved already covers 25.5% of the sample list, shown on the planner and the Dashboard next to the status line.
– The rest of the month stays whole: the zero-based Monthly Budget carries the School Fund transfer beside rent and groceries.

What’s inside (.xlsx, works in Excel AND Google Sheets):
– Start Here — plain-English setup + your settings (school-year start, fund start, already saved, paychecks per month)
– School Costs — the per-child list with categories, Bought? flags, Still To Buy, and per-child totals
– Fund Planner — still to set aside, months left, monthly / per-paycheck / weekly set-aside, % covered, status
– Expense Log — everyday spending, categorized
– Monthly Budget — zero-based, Budget vs Actual fills itself
– Dashboard — the whole school fund on one screen
– Monthly Summary — spending by month, Jan–Dec

Instant download. Yellow cells are yours to type in; every formula cell is locked (password sheetdaily, shown in Start Here) so nothing breaks by accident. A sample list for two children is pre-filled so you can see the math working — replace it with your own kids’ lists.