The free simple budget template
Three number columns: what you plan, what actually happened, and the difference. The category rows are a starting point; rename or delete any of them. The number cells are blank on purpose.
| Category | Planned | Actual | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| INCOME | |||
| Job or paid work | |||
| Grant, scholarship or bursary | |||
| Family support | |||
| Loan disbursement (monthly share) | |||
| Other income | |||
| Total income | |||
| FIXED EXPENSES | |||
| Rent or housing | |||
| Utilities | |||
| Phone and internet | |||
| Insurance | |||
| Transport pass | |||
| Subscriptions and other fixed | |||
| Minimum debt payments | |||
| Total fixed expenses | |||
| VARIABLE EXPENSES | |||
| Groceries | |||
| Eating out | |||
| Fuel or rides | |||
| Books and supplies | |||
| Personal care and clothing | |||
| Entertainment | |||
| Other variable | |||
| Total variable expenses | |||
| Total expenses | |||
| Left over (income minus expenses) |
The three formulas
- Totals: each total row is the sum of the rows above it in its block. Total expenses is total fixed plus total variable.
- Left over: total income minus total expenses, once for the Planned column and once for the Actual column.
- Difference: Actual minus Planned on every row. For an income row, a positive number means you received more than planned. For an expense row, a positive number means you spent more than planned.
If you list minimum debt payments as a fixed expense, as in the template above, the leftover is what remains after the minimums. That leftover is the room you have for an extra payment on a debt.
How to use it for one month
- At the start of the month fill in the Planned column from your income and your bills.
- During the month, fill in Actual from your bank or card statements.
- At the end, read the Difference column from the bottom up: first the leftover, then the block that moved it most.
- Copy the template for the next month and adjust the plan using what the differences showed.
Irregular costs, such as a semester's books or an annual insurance bill, are easier to plan if you divide them by 12 (or by the number of months in your term) and put the monthly share in a category.
What the paid workbook adds
The free template above is a layout. The paid workbook (Excel format, .xlsx) adds:
- The formulas already written in the Monthly Budget tab, with the totals, leftover and difference columns working from the first cell you type.
- A Debts tab for up to 6 debts and a Payoff Plan tab with a 120-month schedule per debt, with and without an extra payment, so the leftover has a destination. The extra payment goes to one chosen debt and nothing carries over to the others; snowball and avalanche ordering belongs only to the free in-browser calculator.
- A Term Plan tab that spreads a lump sum, such as a loan disbursement, over up to 26 weeks into a weekly allowance.
- US, UK and Canada versions (dollars, pounds, dollars) and a PDF guide that explains each tab with a worked example.
The Loan rules block on the Debts tab is left blank on purpose, because repayment rules and rates differ by country and change; you fill it from the official source. How it was checked: a script verified the structure and cell references of the workbooks. No claim is made that the files were opened in any particular spreadsheet program.
Price, refund and licence
USD 12, one-time payment, sold on Gumroad: 3 workbooks (US, UK, CA) and a PDF guide. Licence: personal use. Refund on request within 14 days. These are the same terms as on the Gumroad listing.
Get the budget planner workbooks, USD 12 on Gumroad
Other pages
See the monthly budget template page with a worked example, the debt payoff planner page, the student loan payoff spreadsheet page and the United States edition.