Free Monthly Budget Spreadsheet
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Modified date: August 4, 2020
Using the spreadsheet is easy. First, gather your paystubs and enter your monthly income. Next, collect a month’s worth of bills and receipts. Enter the monthly amounts in the appropriate categories, estimating any value that fluctuates from month-to-month.
Once you have entered all the values, the spreadsheet will tell you how much you will have left at the end of the month to save or put towards debt. The spreadsheet will also tell you how close you are to an ideal income allocation. Such allocation models are frequently used by banks and other lenders for determining your financial balance. Feel free to try the spreadsheet today using the download link below.
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What’s Ahead: The Original Free Budget Spreadsheet (Version 2)This spreadsheet for Excel 97-2003 or 2007 automatically calculates how much you have left to spend in your monthly budget categories as you input spending on a calendar-like grid. Note: If this file downloads as a .zip instead of .xlsx, try right clicking the link and selecting ‘Save Link As’. |
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The Really Simple Budget WorksheetIf you don’t want to spend a lot of time with your budget, sometimes all you need is a quick chart to jot down about what you’ll spend each month. Sound about right? Then this one-page, super-simple worksheet is for you. |
Need a more powerful budgeting solution? Discover Personal Capital which aggregates both your daily spending and your investments and provides free expert advice.
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Can someone please tell me how I add another category please? I have tried to insert another row, but when I add it, it seems that I am at the max # of categories and it messes up the formula since different information is spread out over the spreadsheet. thank you
not under 30, lol, but some of us are a little behind finances-management- wise. so thanks!
I have the hardest time with setting a budget. Most of our spending happens on a credit card so that we take advantage of the end of the year cash back on the card but this just leaves us with a lump payment at the end of the month. Every month, we always pay off the balance and never incur a late fee. But I see big swings in our spending that are often unpredictable. I’m diligent about saving for retirement and my other savings accounts keep climbing as well. How can I plan an effective and predictable budget like this when our spending is so unpredictable? For example, this last month, I had to replace brakes and rotors on my car ($505) plus I bought a nice Velentine’s gift and flowers for my wife ($370.) That’s a swing of $875 from the norm!! I feel that stuff happens every couple months and it changes the plan. Despite all of this, we are managing to save up and get ahead. Any advice.
@ BabyDaddy. As far as planning for “unpredictable” expenses like car repairs, etc.–it’s a good idea to set aside a certain amount of your monthly budget apart for those “unpredictable” or emergency expenses.
As far as the valentines gift for your wife–I don’t want to sound like a crumugen, but that seems like an awfully expensive gift (at least for me; I make less than $45,000/yr). As lovely as she is, maybe you can get her something less $$ next year, knowing that you all will be financially more well off? 😉
One thing that I have been meaning to do is plot out what months incur which major expenses–for example, when are my insurance premiums due (for house, auto); family/friend bdays; holidays; car registration; vacation. This way I would know ahead of time that certain months will be heavier than others and plan accordingly.
It would be nice to be a trust-fund baby, but until then, I will have to keep planning and saving…
I do a few things with my budget to account for these swings. First of all, I use a “spending diary” (you can actually search for “spending diary” on Google Docs and you’ll see all of my templates). In my diary, I have 3 categories that serve as minor emergency funds: app德扑圈官方网址home/app德扑圈官方网址home Repair, Other, and Annual. Every month, I “deposit” $100 into app德扑圈官方网址home repair…not because I plan on fixing a plumbing every month, but so that when I do have to fix a plumbing issue that costs $300 one month, I’ll have money there to account for it. My “Other” category covers things like haircuts, medicine, car maintenance, etc. Things that don’t happen every month, but one of those general things might occur every month. Finally, I have the “Annual” category. For this, I took all of my annual payments (insurance, car registrations, dues, etc), rounded up a little and divided by 12. All of this money sits in my bank account earning interest until it’s time to be spent.
Also, BabyDaddy, I have a “Gift” category to account for weddings, birthdays, Christmas, Valentine’s, etc. If you look into that diary and see that you have $400 laying around, feel free to buy your wife something nice. Otherwise, you might want to consider cutting back.
This is going to be a dumb question…. but how do I find this “spending diary” on google docs? Thanks for helping me. 🙂
Hi! Have you downloaded the Excel spreadsheet, and then uploaded it to Google Docs?
This is awesome, thank you! I had always made my own budget spreadsheets in excel, but this one is def. more high tech. Yay!
I *finally* corrected the issues I think Penny pointed out; please let me know if you have other issues.
David,
I love the free spreadsheet, however some of the formulas on the monthly sheet are not formatted to provide totals correctly. Specifically the ones in the tables at the bottom. Can you help me? I tried to change them, but it must be password protected – understandably so. Thanks
Thanks for adding it to your roundup, J! I did this sooo long ago now it seems and have been meaning to update it. I should get on that soon…
Nice & simple, I dig it. Just added it into my best budget templates roundup! I love what other bloggers put out, hopefully people are making some use of it 🙂
I have been unable to download the free monthly budget spreadsheet without a product key. Can you help me?