42 FREE TOOLS · EXCEL · GOOGLE SHEETS · PDF

Free Tools for the Paperwork Nobody Explains

Retirement points, a VA claim, a layoff, a parent's care, a process at work. Pick your situation and get the one tool that pulls the pieces into one place.

Struggling to cover the basics

  • Family Benefits & Assistance Checklist

    Free printable guide and tracker for families: food, health care, bills, rent, child care, veterans, legal help, and money you can claim.

  • Recurring Charges Check (interactive)

    On your phone in 2 minutes: list what you pay every month, see your yearly total, and get plain steps to cancel. Military on orders: end some contracts with no fee.

Fixing a process at work or home

  • EASIER Companion Toolkit

    New to process improvement: 12 printable worksheets, no training needed. Start with the ten-minute Friction Hunt.

  • Process Improvement Toolkit

    Lean or Green Belt trained: Excel and PowerPoint templates for SIPOC, 5 Whys, Pareto, fishbone, value stream map, PDCA, a dashboard, and a Green Belt DMAIC project workbook.

New to this? Start with EASIER. Had Lean or Green Belt training? Use the Process Improvement Toolkit. The guides cover both.

Federal pay

  • FEHB Open Season Cost Calculator

    Compare what each health plan could cost you for the whole year, not just premiums. Healthy, typical, and worst year. FEHB and PSHB, working or retired. Works on your phone.

  • How to Read Your Civilian LES

    Free 4-page PDF. Every block on the DFAS civilian LES in plain words, the remarks that need action, and who to call.

Saving in the TSP

  • TSP Contribution and Match Check

    Free Google Sheet or Excel file. See if you get the full match, and if you will hit the limit early and lose it. Federal, military, and dual-status.

Leaving federal service

  • RIF Deadline Tool

    Got a RIF notice? Works on your phone. See your 30-day appeal date, where to file, and your health, life insurance, and job priority dates, in order.

  • Federal Exit Records Checklist

    Short checklist. Save what you need before your access changes. Start here if you only have ten minutes.

  • Federal Separation & RIF Organizer

    Fillable PDF for notices, deadline windows, eOPF and SF-50 records, FEGLI, FEHB, TSP elections, and final pay.

Federal retirement

Guard career, pay, and development

  • ANG Development Plan

    Excel workbook or Google Sheets copy. Your next PME step, fitness test date, 33 opportunities marked required or optional and from home or not, and a short action plan. Built for drilling Guardsmen with civilian jobs. Includes a one-page NGB Statutory Tour quick reference.

  • Guard Orders and Pay Tracker

    Excel workbook or Google Sheets copy. Log each drill weekend and set of orders, compare the estimate with what posted, track travel vouchers and open pay problems, and watch your points toward a good year.

  • How to Read Your Military LES

    Free 5-page PDF, interactive LES Checker, and a monthly check and problem log. All 15 sections of your LES in plain words, a two-minute check, and who fixes it. Active duty, Guard, and Reserve.

Guard retirement

  • ANG Retirement Decision System

    10-page fillable PDF. Hit the VA BDD window, pull your records before CAC access ends, and map every office that owns a piece of your exit.

  • Missing Retirement Records Request Kit

    5-page fillable PDF. Find what is missing from your ANG record, request it in one clear myFSS case, and log every follow-up. Covers medical records and dual-status technicians.

  • ANG Retirement Command System

    32-page PDF playbook: points, SBP, DFAS, TRICARE, the FERS technician path, and 30/60/90 follow-up. Fillable and print editions.

  • Reserve/Guard Retirement Points Tracker

    Excel workbook or Google Sheets copy for point statements, qualifying-year records, discrepancies, and correction follow-up. Records what your official sources say; never calculates.

Air Force leaders

  • Air Force Senior Leader Business Cards

    PowerPoint template with four fronts and four backs for commanders, chiefs, and senior civilians. Bleed already set; you add your authorized emblem and print.

Military to civilian work

  • Leaving the Military Deadline Calculator

    Pick your status, enter one date, and see the dates that matter: VA claim, SGLI, VGLI, TRICARE, and your final move. Active duty, Guard, and Reserve. A planning tool with the office to confirm each date.

  • ANG Career Alignment System

    Excel workbook that turns your military experience into scored civilian career paths and your first 3 moves. Works for Guard, Reserve, and active duty.

Looking for a job

  • Job Search Tracker

    Free Google Sheet, or download it to Excel, for every application: the resume version you sent, proof you applied, and your next follow-up with a date. Flags overdue follow-ups and applications that have gone quiet.

  • Federal Resume 2-Page Checker

    Paste your resume and see if it fits the USAJOBS 2-page limit and has what USAJOBS asks for: dates, hours per week, series, and grade. Nothing leaves your device.

Veterans

  • VA Claim Organizer

    Excel workbook or Google Sheets copy to organize claims, evidence, medical visits, and orders, compare decision review options, and get one next step at a time.

  • Veteran 100% P&T Benefits Tracker

    Excel workbook or Google Sheets copy to track VA benefits, CHAMPVA, DEA Chapter 35, property tax exemptions, vehicle fees, and state benefits in one place.

  • GI Bill Tracker

    Excel workbook or Google Sheets copy to keep your months left from VA, every term, and what you are waiting on in one place, and see whether your plan fits.

  • Military Records Router

    Answer five questions on your phone and see where to ask for a DD-214, personnel file, or medical records, for any branch, including family after a death.

  • Survivor First 30 Days

    When a veteran or military retiree dies: who to call this week, what to file this month, and the deadlines that matter. Works on your phone.

Family care, records, and medical bills

  • Family Emergency Records Kit

    Free Google Sheet that tells your family where your will, insurance, and DD-214 are, who to call first, and which bills to keep paying, with a printable one-page sheet.

  • Senior Benefits Navigator

    Excel workbook or Google Sheets copy to keep Medicare, Social Security, prescriptions, and supplemental coverage in one place, plus what a caregiver needs.

  • Family Caregiver Organizer

    Excel workbook or Google Sheets copy the whole family can share: medications, appointments, tasks, papers, costs, and a handoff for the next caregiver.

  • Medical Bill and EOB Tracker

    Excel or Google Sheets tracker to match each medical bill to the insurance EOB, log calls and payments, and see which bills need follow-up.

Moving to a new home

  • Moving and Relocation Organizer

    Free Google Sheet plus a moving-day PDF. Enter your move date and 47 tasks get due dates. Includes a PCS tab for military moves, plus budget, boxes, and address changes.

  • Home Sale Organizer

    Free Google Sheet plus a printable checklist. Estimate your net proceeds, compare up to five offers by net to you, and track prep, showings, and closing papers.

  • Shared Bills Tracker

    Free Google Sheet for roommates (or Excel): split rent and bills once, see who owes whom, and what is due this week. Includes a move-in photo checklist.

Just got laid off

  • Layoff and Severance Tracker

    Severance window, COBRA election, unemployment filing, 401(k) decision, and final pay in one tracker, in Excel or Google Sheets, with a printable companion.

Running a small business

  • Small Business Invoice Tracker

    Free Google Sheet or Excel workbook that shows who owes you, what to invoice next, and whether invoices are going out faster. Built from the book example.

Running a community group

  • Food Pantry Tracker

    Free workbook for food pantry volunteers: what is out or low, donor thank-yous, overdue tasks, and monthly totals for your food bank report. Excel or Google Sheets.

  • Parade Committee Planner

    Free Google Sheet for parade committees: entries and lineup, volunteers, sponsors, permit and road-closure to-dos, and a parade day checklist.

  • Farmers Market Manager

    Free Google Sheet for market managers: vendors and paperwork, stall assignments, market day fees and attendance, and every to-do.

  • Honor Guard Detail Coordinator

    Free Google Sheet for honor guard teams: funeral honors details, who has each job, who confirmed, gear, and a one-page print for each detail.

  • Volunteer Fire Department Organizer

    Free Google Sheet for volunteer fire department officers: terms and vacancies, members and recruits, meeting follow-ups, grants, and officer handoffs.

Don't see your problem? Tell us what keeps getting in the way. New tools start there.

Pass it on. Know someone dealing with one of these? Send them this page. Every tool stays free, with no email or sign-up.