I'm not sure if VLOOKUP is what I should use here or not. If so what syntax should I use?

I'm not sure how to explain this but I will try.
I created a checkbook and budget worksheet.
Worksheet 1 is budget.
Worksheet 2 is chkbk.

In chkbk:
Column A = Dates
Column B = Check#
Column C = Payee
Column D = (blank)
Column E = Debit
Column F = Credit
Column G = Balance (formula)
Column H = Category (drop down list from column B in budget)

In budget:
Column A = (blank)
Column B = Categories (same categories as column H in chkbk)
Column C = January Budget
Column D = January Actual
Column E = February Budget
Column F = February Actual
and so on with
Column y = December Budget
Column Z = December Actual

What I would like to do is have the amount from the debit or credit column in chkbk worksheet automatically move to the appropriate column and row in the budget worksheet.

So if I enter a car payment in chkbk with a date of 2/4/2012 and debit amount of $400.00 and category "car payment" then in the budget worksheet it should automatically fill in the amount of $400.00 in cell F17

(F being the column for "February Actual" and 17 being the row for category "car payment").

Another kicker is that it needs to keep a running tally. So If I enter another car payment for $300.00 on the date 2/20/2012, then cell F17 should reflect $700.00 and not replace the previous $400.00 with the new $300.00.

I'm thinking I may need to create another worksheet to keep a running total for Month and Category, then move it from there to the budget worksheet?

I hope this makes since and if someone can help I would be very thankful. If I need to provide more info or clarify something, let me know.

Thanks

Nevermind, I messed with it for over an hour and figured it out.

I needed to use the SUMIFS function.

It looks like a mess but it works. :-)

=SUMIFS(chkbk!$F:$F,chkbk!$H:$H,$B3,chkbk!$A:$A," =08/01",chkbk!$A:$A,"<=08/31")

I left the post in case someone else has the same dilema.