Budget templates

A budget spreadsheet plans how much money comes in each month and where it goes. Use one before you start saving, paying off debt or planning a big event.

Include income sources, fixed expenses, variable spending, savings and debt payments, planned against actual, and monthly totals and balance. Build the plan from your real bills and the last three months of spending, not from guesses, so it survives the first month.

A zero-based budget gives every amount of income a job, so income minus planned spending and savings equals zero. Any money left over is assigned to a category before the month starts.

Many people aim for about 20 percent of take-home pay, but start with an amount you can keep up. Increase it when bills fall or income rises.

Check it weekly and update it monthly, once your pay and bills have come out. Adjust the planned figure whenever a regular cost changes.

Start with Annual Household Budget: Plan a household budget across twelve months and compare actual spending with plan. If that is not the right fit, compare it with Event Budget Planner.

The templates here are 4 to 5 pages long. Cut any section you do not need; each template explains what its sections are for.

Yes. These budget templates work in Google Sheets and Microsoft Excel. All 7 templates are free, with no account or email needed.