Free monthly budget template

What's inside

• A summary at the top: planned and actual income, planned and actual spending, and what's left over. Left over turns red if you plan or spend more than you earn.
• Income: rows for two paychecks, side income and other income, plus spare rows. A Difference column shows how actual income compared with what you expected.
• Expenses and savings: 25 ready-made categories, from rent and groceries to subscriptions, gifts, the emergency fund and retirement, plus spare rows. Each has a Planned amount, an Actual amount, and "Left in budget", which turns red when you're over.
• A "How to use" sheet with the steps below.

How to use it

1. Type the month at the top.
2. Enter the income you expect in the Planned column. Rename sources to match yours.
3. Give each expense category a Planned amount. Rename categories to fit your life and leave any you don't use blank.
4. Check "Left over" in the summary. If it's negative, trim the plan until it isn't. If it's positive, consider giving the extra to savings or debt.
5. As the month goes, fill in the Actual column from your bank app or receipts. A few minutes once a week is enough.
6. At the end of the month, duplicate the sheet and start the next one.

An example

Say you expect two paychecks of $3,000 and $1,000, and plan $1,500 for rent and $500 for groceries. The summary shows $4,000 planned income, $2,000 planned spending and $2,000 left to plan. If the second paycheck comes in at $900 and groceries end up at $620, Groceries shows −$120 left in budget, in red, and the actual left over drops to $1,780.

Tips

• Start with last month's bank statement so your planned amounts are realistic, not hopeful.
• Include costs that only come once or twice a year (car registration, gifts) as a monthly amount in Other savings, so they don't arrive as surprises.
• If one category keeps going over, raise its budget and lower another rather than abandoning the plan. If you're paid paycheck to paycheck, this guide walks through a first budget step by step.

Opening it in Google Sheets or Numbers

• Google Sheets: upload the file to Google Drive, then open it with Google Sheets. The formulas, dropdowns and colors come across.
• Apple Numbers: double-click the file, or open it from Numbers. It converts automatically.
• Excel or LibreOffice: just open it.

Green cells are for typing. Everything else is calculated, so if a total looks wrong, check the green cells it adds up rather than typing over the formula.