Financial Planning Templates

A calm, beginner-friendly toolkit you can set up in a spreadsheet, Notion, or paper planner. Each template explains what it’s for, how to set it up, guardrails, and example formulas—without any tables. Keep amounts tiny at the start, favor routine over results, and write everything down.
Educational only. Not financial or tax advice.

1) Crypto DCA Plan Template (Weekly / Bi-Weekly)

Purpose
Build a tiny, repeatable buy schedule so you invest and learn without overthinking price.

Core fields to track
Date · Asset · Amount (fiat) · Schedule (weekly/bi-weekly) · Method (auto/manual) · Fee · Price · Units · Executed (Y/N) · One-line note · A review prompt.

How to set it up

• Pick weekly or bi-weekly and list the next 6–12 dates.

• Choose a small, sustainable amount (e.g., $10–$25).

• Decide whether you’ll automate or use calendar reminders.

• After each buy, record fee, price, units, and one sentence about anything confusing.

Helpful formulas (describe, then implement in your tool of choice)

• Units = Amount ÷ Price

• Executed progress = (number of “Y”) ÷ (number of planned rows)

• Monthly total invested = Sum of Amounts where Date month = target month

Guardrails

• Keep the amount at a level you truly won’t miss.

• If you skip a buy, write why (budget, high fees, travel).

• Review monthly; change the amount, not the frequency.

2) Monthly Crypto Budget Template (Starter-Friendly)

Purpose
Fit a tiny “learning budget” into real life—after essentials and savings.

Categories to plan
Income after tax · Housing · Utilities/Internet · Groceries/Transport · Debt payments · Emergency savings · Other savings (goals) · Discretionary · Crypto — Learning Budget · Buffer.

Setup steps

1. Write down your take-home income.

2. List essential bills and minimum savings goals first.

3. Whatever remains is discretionary. From that, carve a small crypto learning line (e.g., ≤5% of discretionary or a fixed $ amount—whichever is lower).

4. During the month, jot down actuals and quick notes.

Stress test
Ask: “If my income dropped by 10%, would my crypto line still feel comfortable?” If not, shrink it.

Guardrails
Never borrow for crypto. Never dip into emergency savings to fund it.

3) Portfolio Tracker Template for Beginners

Purpose
See holdings, cost basis, target allocation, and drift in one place.

Fields to track
Asset · Where it lives (exchange/wallet) · Quantity · Cost basis (fiat total) · Average cost · Current price · Current value · Target % · Actual % · Drift % · Rebalance action · Notes.

Formulas to implement

• Average cost = Cost basis ÷ Quantity

• Value = Quantity × Price now

• Total value = Sum of all values

• Actual % = Asset value ÷ Total value

• Drift % = Actual % − Target %

Notes
Manual price updates are fine at first. If you experiment with price functions, expect delays or rate limits. Keep official exchange/wallet exports separately for tax time.

Guardrails
Set a target % for each asset. Cap any single coin at 10–20% until you’re confident. Flag any drift beyond your threshold (e.g., ±7%) for your quarterly review.

4) Rebalancing Checklist & Calendar Template

Purpose
Quietly nudge allocations back to target on a schedule or when drift gets large.

Checklist

• Update prices and confirm total value.

• Write down Actual % and Drift % for each asset.

• Rebalance quarterly or when drift exceeds your chosen threshold (e.g., 5–10%).

• Calculate each asset’s target value (Target % × Total value) and trade difference (Target value − Current value).

• Execute within your budget, then write one line explaining your action (“BTC +8% over target → trimmed to 60% target”).

Standing calendar
End of January, April, July, October (or any four dates you’ll actually remember).

Guardrails
Avoid tinkering between reviews; respect the calendar or the drift rule—whichever comes first.

5) Risk & Exit Rules Template (No Guesswork)

Purpose
Pre-commit to limits so emotions don’t lead.

Prompts to fill in

• Max portfolio drawdown I can accept: ____ %

• Per-asset position cap: ____ % of portfolio

• Drift trim rule: If any asset exceeds target by ____ %, trim at the next review

• Profit-taking steps (optional): take x% at +____ %, +____ %, +____ %

• Buying rule: Add only within budget and at scheduled reviews (no impulse buys)

• Automatic pause triggers: seed/2FA issues, suspicious links, unclear fees, or unfamiliar platforms

• Next review date: __________

Scenario practice
Write your response to: “Portfolio down 40%.” “A single coin hits 20% weight.” “Fees spike today.” Then follow those rules in real time.

6) Buy / Trade Journal Template (Clarity > Hype)

Purpose
Learn faster by logging why you acted and what happened.

Fields to capture
Date/time (UTC) · Action (buy/sell/transfer) · Asset · Size (fiat) · Price · Fees · Reason/thesis (1–2 lines) · Exit plan (price/rules) · Result (later) · Lesson (1 line) · Tag.

Good “reason” examples
“Weekly DCA—sticking to plan.”
“Rebalance: BTC above target by 8%.”
“Reduced after sleep-test failed—size felt too large.”

Monthly reflection
What worked? What was noise? Which rule saved me? One tweak to try next month.

Optional
Use tags like “DCA,” “rebalance,” “impulse.” Count them to spot patterns.

7) Tax-Ready Records Basics Template

Purpose
Keep a neutral ledger so year-end is simpler. (Educational only; not tax advice.)

Core details to log for each transaction
UTC date/time · Action (buy/sell/swap/stake/reward) · Asset coming in (and quantity) · Asset going out (and quantity) · Fiat value at the time · Fee (asset/fiat) · Platform/wallet · Transaction hash/ID · Short note.

Practices
Use UTC consistently. Record fiat values at execution (use exchange fills). Save platform exports and keep direct links to block explorers. Note staking rewards as they occur.

Guardrails
Don’t rely solely on dashboards—record the raw entries. Back up the file.

Implementation Tips (Sheets, Notion, Paper)

Google Sheets / Excel
Freeze headers; turn on filters; use dropdowns for fields like schedule, executed, and tags. Add conditional formatting (e.g., past-due DCA rows). Use named ranges (like “TotalValue”) to keep formulas readable. Separate tabs for DCA, Budget, Portfolio, Rebalance, Journal, and Tax.

Notion
Create databases with properties (Date, Number, Select, Checkbox). Make saved views (Month, Quarter, Review). Use page templates that auto-fill key fields.

Paper
Write the same headings on each page. Keep a binder with monthly sections. Snap a photo at month-end for a digital backup.

Versioning, Backups, and Privacy

• Version names: “2025-Crypto-Planner-v1,” then duplicate each quarter.

• Backups: Export a PDF snapshot monthly; store one local and one in the cloud.

• Privacy: No seed phrases or recovery details in your planner; keep security notes generic.

• Access: Turn on 2FA for any cloud account that stores your planner.

Weekly & Monthly Rhythm (Suggested)

• Weekly (10–15 min): Execute DCA, record fee/price/units, write one lesson.

• Monthly (20–30 min): True-up the budget and portfolio totals; schedule next month’s dates.

• Quarterly (30–45 min): Run the rebalance checklist; document a one-line rationale.

Common Pitfalls (and Fixes)

• Too many tabs, no routine → Keep the 6–7 core sections and add a recurring calendar reminder.

• Formulas breaking after sorting → Use named ranges or structured references; archive past months as static values.

• Forgetting why you bought → Journal entry first, order second.

• Overfitting last month’s market → Favor simple, repeatable rules over fancy tweaks.

Final Reminder

Templates don’t make decisions—your rules and routines do. Start tiny, keep it boring, protect your accounts, and let your competence compound month by month.

Educational only. Not financial or tax advice.