You’re probably tired of hearing everyone on the internet preach about “tracking your finances,” but the truth is…it really is the bread and butter of your entire financial picture.

There’s no podcast episode this week (womp womp), because I’ve been working extremely hard every single day on major improvements to the Personal Budget Template in my Stan Store.

Every evening for 2–3 hours, I’ve been testing, tweaking, and upgrading the features to make this tracker insanely COOL. If you could see the number of spreadsheets I’ve created and re-created over the past seven years, you’d be surprised with how far I’ve come but also that:

I can’t wait to show you all the bells and whistles in this updated version. Both because I’m incredibly proud of it, and because I want you to head into 2026 with a powerful, beautifully designed Google Sheet that actually works for you.

Note: If you purchased a previous version of the Budget Template, you can absolutely keep using it in the new year. However, I won’t be offering discounts for past buyers. This updated version comes with a price increase due to the significant new features and enhancements.

Every year around November, I make major upgrades to the Budget Template. I’m a creature of constant improvement, and since I use this spreadsheet every single month myself, I always find little ways to make it better. I gather all those tweaks and enhancements and roll them into a refreshed version that launches in December. Now heading into my third year of creating digital products, I think it’s safe to say I’ve learned a thing or two on upgrading!

Let me walk you through all the newest features and improvements I’ve added to this year’s spreadsheet. It’s NOW AVAILABLE to my newsletter fam one day early— but official launch is December 1.

✦ NEW Setup Page: Easily input all your financial essentials—fixed expenses, debt payments, savings/investing contributions, credit card types, and spending categories (most requested updates).

✦ NEW Colour Themes: Choose two colours from a dropdown of 8 options to instantly switch between themes. The entire spreadsheet updates automatically for a cohesive look.

✦ NEW Debt Progress Tracker: Watch your repayment bar move with every payment you make. It’s fully linked to your setup Start Page and automatically carries over your progress month to month.

✦ NEW Layout & Flow: The spreadsheet has been redesigned for a smoother experience, clearer sections, and an overall more intuitive format.

✦ NEW Debit Purchases Column: By popular demand, you can now track all debit card transactions and INTERAC e-transfers (perfect for non–credit card users).

✦ NEW Annual Dashboard: Enjoy visual charts and graphs that give you a quick, clear picture of your financial year—your savings rate, money in vs. money out, and a full spending overview.

I chatted with a beauty influencer the other day, and I was genuinely surprised by how financially literate she is—despite her love for shopping. She knows how to invest, prepares properly for both personal and business taxes, and distributes her income responsibly. The only thing she doesn’t do is track or budget her spending. Why? Because after paying her bills, covering her shopping expenses, and setting money aside for investments, she still has money left over. So tracking never felt like a priority.

It made me wonder: Would I ever stop tracking my money if I earned so much that I always had a strong, consistent cash flow?

The answer is NO. ❌

I’m way too Type A to not keep an eye on my numbers. I actually enjoy sitting down for what I call my “financial maintenance day.” Although, for the past couple of months, I’ve been doing it weekly because I’ve been using my own data to repeatedly test the new spreadsheet.

But if you haven’t started tracking your finances yet, here’s why I believe it’s important—no matter how much money you make:

⟿ You’ll almost always be shocked by how much you spend, even when you swear this month will be different. 🕵🏻‍♀️

⟿ You naturally increase how much you save and invest because seeing the numbers motivates you to make smarter choices. 🤾🏻‍♀️

⟿ Understanding where your money goes helps build a healthier, more respectful relationship with it because it’s easy to misuse money when you’re not paying attention. 👩🏻‍💻

⟿ If you have dreams like buying a home, retiring early, saving for a child, planning a big trip, or making a luxury purchase—budgeting is the fastest, most efficient way to get there. 🏃🏻‍♀️

⟿ You feel genuinely productive because you’re staying aware of your spending habits and making consistent progress toward your savings and investing goals. 🧘🏻‍♀️

I think I’m officially doing a full rebrand of my Spicy Sunday theme. I had a purple aesthetic on the website for a while, random banner for my YouTube, and just typography, colours and formats were all over the place. Now I’m shifting everything toward a bold pepper-red palette and some nicer fonts.

Red represents power, control, and confidence with your money—the kind of energy I want to bring into the new year. And if you’re wondering where “Spicy Sunday Finance” even came from, here’s the story: I used to work at the bank on Saturdays, and whenever I had a stressful client or situation, I’d drench my meals in Sriracha to relieve the stress (does anyone else eat spicy food to decompress?). After my shift, I’d head home and record a podcast episode that would go live on Sunday and when I decided to create personal finance content in 2021, using full names wasn’t common like how it is now, so I came up with a fun name and it stuck.

So now, with new graphics, updated descriptions, and a refreshed overall look, the branding finally feels aligned. I think it looks sleek—but what do you think?

✧ Updated Travel Budget Template — in the works but I want to make this more intuitive and more so as a calculator than just a template!

✧ Personal Finance e-Book — still ways a way to complete but I essentially want all my knowledge in an organized guide (this will include things like credit card hacks, investing strategies, getting to your first $100K and how to bank efficiently)

✧ More credit card content — as this is my “specialty” from what you guys tells me, I want to introduce a new series still related to Credit Card Combos but something different for the new year (I have some ideas but taking any suggestions!)

If you haven’t checked out the guide yet, here’s a comprehensive strategy to how to combine your credit cards to create the most elite combination. All these combos are perfect to think about for 2026.

Anyway, that’s all from me. Can’t wait for you to check out the newest spreadsheet linked below!

If this newsletter got you motivated, I’d love for you to:

Until next week ✨

Cheers,
Jane