The 2011 GYO Money Saving Experiment Spreadsheet

Posted on December 27, 2010 by Jono in 2011 money saving experiment, 2011 money saving experiment getting started, the allotment years with 9 Comments

I’ve made a spreadsheet, which I’d like to share with you in the hope I will find someone as geeky as me.

I love spreadsheets. They’re just so smart and neat, and bring out the part of me that wishes I was remotely organised.

So I’ve made one to work out how much I save from growing my own fruit and veg next year, much to Ailsa’s bemusement.

I’m no Microsoft Excel wizard, but the spreadsheet works out how much I save per picking against a manually entered current market value, depending on the weight of the produce. To get the shop price of the fruit or veg, I found banging ‘price of x’ in to Google soon brought up a value from one of the big supermarkets.

I’ve also added two other sections for the price of seeds purchased, and miscellaneous costs like allotment rent and tools, should I wish to include them.

My accountant mate Russell has checked the spreadsheet over, and it’s working properly, so from New Year’s Day I’m away. The year of the geek can begin!

If you’re reading this, then firstly, thank you! If you would also like to make use of the spreadsheet to calculate your own savings, then please feel free to download it by clicking here.

I’ve also put together a few pointers which will hopefully answer any questions you might have. There are also some entries in the spreadsheet so you can see how it works.

Please let me know if you find this useful, or if you have any suggestions to make it better. I’d be chuffed to hear from you.

Tagged microsoft excel, money saving, spreadsheet

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9 Comments

Real Men Sow / a cheery allotment blog » Blog Archive » How Much Money Can Growing My Own Save Me? January UpdateJanuary 31, 2011 at 9:58 pmReply

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Tim HoltApril 15, 2011 at 2:37 pmReply

What a brilliant idea! I might just join you in trying to keep track of this…
- JonoApril 18, 2011 at 8:55 pmReplyAuthor
  
  Hi Tim.
  
  I’ve found it really interesting so far. At the end, I’m going to create a little diagram based on a small garden, recommended what to grow for greatest savings.
  
  Be great to hear how you get on.
  
  Jono.
LeaApril 29, 2011 at 8:40 amReply

Just wondering, does your spread sheet work out the cost of the seed per plant or per packet?
It’s a great spread sheet so thanks for producing it!
- JonoMay 1, 2011 at 1:15 pmReplyAuthor
  
  Hi Lea.
  
  It works it out per packet, but in theory you could work out a rough price per seed by dividing the amount of seeds in the pack (normally stated somewhere) by the price.
AnnaMay 1, 2011 at 5:31 pmReply

I worked out in my little grey computer that soft red fruit is the dearest produce that we use. So concentrating on raspberries and strawberries although still waiting on the cherry tree
Real Men Sow » Blog Archive » Are Tomatoes Really Worth that Much?? How Much Money Can Growing Your Own Save Me? August UpdateSeptember 3, 2011 at 9:15 amReply

[...] you can imagine my surprise when my spreadsheet told me that the 3.3kg of ripe, red tomatoes I’d just harvested were worth nearly 14 [...]
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