Free zero-based budget template

What's inside

• "Left to assign" at the top: your income minus everything you've planned. It turns green at $0.00, amber while there's money without a job, and red if you've planned more than you earn, with a plain message saying which.
• Income rows for your paychecks and other income.
• 5 sections for every dollar's job: bills, everyday spending, saving for irregular costs, savings and debt, and fun. Each has ready-made lines, spare rows and its own total.
• Planned, Actual and Left for every line, so you can see during the month which lines still have money.

How to use it

1. Before the month starts, enter the income you're sure of. If your pay varies, use a cautious amount.
2. Give every dollar a job: a Planned amount for each line, from rent to the emergency fund to fun money.
3. Adjust until "Left to assign" reaches $0.00 and turns green. Savings and extra debt payments count as jobs, so zero doesn't mean spending everything.
4. During the month, enter what you actually spend. When a line runs out, move money from another line and update both. That's the method working, not failing.

An example

With $3,600 of income, plan $1,250 for rent, $210 for utilities, $500 for groceries, $300 for the emergency fund and $60 for fun money. "Left to assign" shows $1,280.00 and the message "Give the remaining $1,280.00 a job." Put $1,280 toward retirement and it turns green: "Every dollar has a job." Plan $20 more than that and it turns red and tells you you've planned $20.00 more than you earn.

Tips

• Fill in the "Saving for irregular costs" lines: car repairs, gifts and annual bills are where zero-based budgets usually break.
• Keep a small fun money line. A plan with no room for a coffee tends to be abandoned.
• New to the method? The zero-based budgeting guide explains where it came from and how to set up your first one.

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.