Tracking your budget using a spreadsheet is a simple way to get started saving more money. Just record all your income and expenses each month to see if you are staying on track.
Not sure where to start with budgeting? Check out this article on how to save more money by creating a monthly budget.
We put together a list of free budget spreadsheet templates that you can download and start using right away.
After you download these budget spreadsheets, start filling them in by gathering information from your pay stubs, credit card statements, and bank account statements. The goal is to calculate exactly how much money flows in and out of your bank account each month.
By doing this over time, you can compare trends and see how well you’re doing. That information can help you see where you may need to cut back on spending.
MoneyUnder30 Monthly Budget Spreadsheet
MoneyUnder30.com has a great budget tracking spreadsheet that you can download for Excel or Google Docs. They have a few different versions to make it simple to track your monthly budget.
The spreadsheet also automatically calculates your income allocation like financial institutions. This helps to determine if your money would be better suited being diverted somewhere else.
Download the MoneyUnder30.com Budget Spreadsheets
Consumer.gov Budget Worksheet
Budgeting is so important to building financial wealth that the government even offers tools for learning. The Federal Trade Commission, or FTC, has put together a budget worksheet that is super simple to use. Just download the PDF version and start filling in your numbers.
Get the FTC Consumer.gov Monthly Budget Worksheet
Mint Budget Template
Mint has an app and various tools for personal finances, but they also have a great budget template to get you started. In addition to the normal sample budget template, they also have a few other varieties based on your needs.
Mint offers free downloads of their daycare budget template, student and college budget templates, and home budget spreadsheets.
Download the Mint Sample Budget Templates
Couple Wealth Budget Spreadsheet
We created out own monthly budget tracker in Excel as a way to better understand our monthly expenses. We included all of our main income and expense sources, but feel free to add your own.
The spreadsheet will automatically calculate your total monthly spend, along with savings rate. Use this knowledge to find areas to cut costs and save more.
Download the Couple Wealth Budget Spreadsheet template
Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Budget Worksheet
Similar to the Consumer.gov worksheet, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, or CFPB, also provides a simple PDF worksheet to track your monthly expenses.
Just use this worksheet to fill in your monthly income and any expenses that you paid money for. It lists a variety of different categories of expenses to get you thinking about what you spend money on.
Download the CFPB Budget Worksheet
It’s Your Money Budget Excel Spreadsheets
It’s Your Money put together a list of different free budget templates that use cash flow and box methods. These provide a few different ways to visualize your budget so that it makes the most sense to you.
The variety in the spreadsheets help to cover a wide range of budgeting purposes. Use these to budget for household expenses, loan payoff, and future expenses.
Get the It’s Your Money Budget Spreadsheets
Tiller Finance Spreadsheet Integration
Tiller is a company that provides a unique service of being able to integrate your bank account with Google Sheets. This allows you to automatically export your financial information from your bank and import it into a Google Sheet. From there, you can manipulate the data to see exactly what you need. This obviously is a great way to simplify the budgeting process and not have to manually type in numbers.
Check out the Tiller Budget Spreadsheet Integrations
Vertex42 Free Budget Templates
Vertex42 offers a variety of free budget templates that can be used with Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets. Use these different templates to visualize and track your expenses for your family or personal budget. With varying layouts and designs, it is easy to calculate your budget for anything you need.
Download Free Vertex42 Budget Templates
Build Your Own Budget Spreadsheet
If you know a little bit about using Excel or Google Docs, you can build your own budget spreadsheet. This can help you visualize your data in a way that makes the most sense to you.
Microsoft Excel does have budget templates available that you can use as a starting point. If you prefer to use Google Docs, they also have sample budget templates to get you started.
Either way, you can start with a sample budget worksheet and then adjust it to fit your needs. Add categories that your expenses fall in to and adjust your income to fit your life. While these are a starting point, you’ll need to tailor the spreadsheets to best fit your actual monthly budget.
Ditch the Spreadsheets Entirely
I used a simple Excel spreadsheet to track my budget for many years. Tracking it this way took a lot of time to gather my expense information every month and was a little painstaking to enter in all the numbers.
I have recently moved to using Personal Capital to automatically track my budget on a daily basis. Not only do I get real time updates, but all the information is compiled in one place by linking my bank accounts and credit cards. It is hands down the easiest way to track your budget and net worth.
Sign up for Personal Capital for Free
