How I track a home renovation without losing my mind

Renovating a flat produces more numbers than any project I've managed at work — and none of them arrive in order. This is the three-sheet system that kept ours under control.

The three sheets

• Budget — one row per line item, committed vs paid.
• Orders — everything bought, with delivery dates.
• People — contractors, quotes, and who said what.

The sheet's job is not to be complete. Its job is to end arguments.

The formula that does the work

One SUMIFS per category, fed by the orders tab:

=SUMIFS(Orders!D:D, Orders!B:B, A2, Orders!E:E, "paid")

Copy the template, rename the categories, and stop reconciling receipts at midnight.