If you locate a budget spreadsheet or template, be sure to use caution while obtaining it from the internet. You may prevent phishing viruses by reading internet reviews and downloading budget templates only from places you know and trust.
Detailed Budget Spreadsheet
How it works: The Federal Trade Commission maintains a website dedicated to educating customers about money, including how to manage their finances. Go to the "Make a Budget Planner" worksheet on the website. Please print and complete the PDF to determine if your income exceeds your expenses or whether your expenses exceed your earnings (or vice versa).
What we like: While numbers and formulae might be scary when it comes to budgeting, this straightforward spreadsheet is the polar opposite. If you've never created a budget before, this is an excellent place to start from.
Where to acquire it: Visit Consumer.gov and click on the "Toolbox" option to get the PDF.
The Budget Worksheet from Nerdwallet
How it works: Fill out the online form to enter your monthly earnings and expenses. It then compares your financial situation to the 50/30/20 budget breakdown, which suggests that 50 percent of your income be spent on necessities, 30 percent on desires, and the remaining 20 percent on savings or debt repayment (depending on your situation). These worksheets are also available in Microsoft Excel format.
What we like: Its thoroughness ensures that you don't overlook any costs, including anything from life insurance premiums to vacation expenses and credit card payments. You may also find worksheets tailored to your position.
Where to obtain it: Of course, you can find it on NerdWallet under the title budget worksheet.
Templates for Budgeting in Microsoft Office
How it works: Keeping a spreadsheet up to date needs discipline, and developing a spreadsheet from the start involves time. Using an Excel template from Microsoft Office will save you the time and effort of building up rows, columns, and formulae from scratch. A home spending budget, a holiday budget planner, and an event budget are available templates.
What we like: Among the things we appreciate, there's a template for just about any financial circumstance, from the most basic to the most complicated. Excel may be used online, allowing users to work on the same document with others simultaneously.
Where to acquire it: Go to templates.office.com and click on "Budgets" to locate an Excel file that can be downloaded. Alternatively, you may log into Microsoft and edit on your desktop browser.
Spreadsheets for Budgeting on Google Drive
What it is and how it works: Google Drive is a cloud-based file storage service that allows users to create, upload, and share files. Get 15GB of free storage space, and if that isn't enough, you may increase. Pre-made templates are available in the Sheets app for Drive, such as a yearly budget and a monthly budget.
We like it: You can carry your budget with you simply signing into your Google Drive account from your smartphone, tablet, or computer before you leave home. You may also give other members of your family access to your household budget if you so want.
Where to find it: Sign in to Google Sheets and then browse through the template collection by clicking here.
Mint Lifestyle Templates
How it works: Besides the well-known Mint software, the money manager also provides budget templates. Choose your chosen budget, and then utilize the pre-made framework to help you through the classification of your expenditures in that budget.
What we like: There are choices tailored to certain demographics and life phases, which is a nice touch. Students benefit from the college template, while parents of small children profit from the daycare template.
Where to acquire it: Mint provides an Excel file that may be downloaded.
More Strategies for the Financial Situation
Researching budget spreadsheets and templates is already a good place to start regarding money management. If none of the tools listed above is a suitable match for your needs, you may try the following:
- Consider using an app that keeps track of and categorizes your expenditure. Check out the top budgeting apps for the year 2021.
- Try our budget calculator to understand how much of your monthly income you should spend and how much you should save.
- If you want to disconnect from the internet, read one of these budgeting books, which experts have suggested.
- Alternately, if you need to go back and learn more about budgeting, you may read how to create a budget.
