What the Monthly Budget tab does
The Monthly Budget tab is a one-month budget on a single sheet with three columns: planned, actual and difference. The rows are grouped in three blocks.
- Income: part-time work, grants or scholarships, family support, loan disbursements (monthly share) and other income.
- Fixed expenses: costs that are about the same every month, such as rent, utilities, phone and internet, insurance, a transport pass and subscriptions.
- Variable expenses: costs that change from month to month, such as groceries, eating out, fuel or rides, books, personal care and entertainment.
The sheet adds each block, subtracts total expenses from total income and shows the leftover. Fill in the planned column at the start of the month, the actual column as the month goes, and read the difference column at the end to see where the plan and the real month differ.
Worked example of a monthly budget
This is an example with made-up, illustrative numbers in USD per month. They are not averages and not a recommendation; replace them with your own.
| Line (example) | Planned per month |
|---|---|
| Income: part-time job, grant, family support, loan share, other | $2,400 |
| Fixed costs: rent, utilities, phone, insurance, transport, subscriptions | $1,010 |
| Variable costs: groceries, eating out, rides, books, personal care, entertainment, other | $660 |
| Total expenses (fixed plus variable) | $1,670 |
| Left over for debt and savings (income minus expenses) | $730 |
In this example the minimum payments on three debts add up to $500 a month, so $230 is still free. That is the amount you could test as an extra payment on the Payoff Plan tab. If the leftover is smaller than your minimum payments, the sheet shows a negative number, which is the signal to look at the variable costs first.
From the budget to a debt plan
A budget spreadsheet is more useful when the leftover has a destination. In this workbook the leftover from the Monthly Budget tab is what you compare with your debt payments. The Debts tab holds up to 6 debts (name, balance, annual rate, minimum payment). The Payoff Plan tab shows a 120-month schedule per debt with and without an extra monthly payment applied to one chosen debt (nothing carries over to the others). Snowball and avalanche ordering belongs only to the free in-browser calculator. The page on the debt payoff spreadsheet shows a worked example with numbers.
What you get for USD 12
Three Excel-format workbooks (.xlsx), one each for the US, the UK and Canada, plus a PDF guide. Each workbook has 5 tabs:
- Start: how to use the workbook, notes on the calculation and the disclosures.
- Monthly Budget: planned, actual and difference columns for income, fixed and variable expenses, with totals and leftover.
- Debts: up to 6 debts, plus a Loan rules block left blank on purpose so you fill it from the official source for your country.
- Payoff Plan: a 120-month schedule per debt with and without an extra payment, payoff month, total interest, interest saved and months saved.
- Term Plan: spreads a lump sum over up to 26 weeks into a weekly allowance and a week-by-week balance.
The PDF guide explains each tab with a worked example. The workbooks use dollars ($) in the US and Canada versions and pounds in the UK version.
How it was checked: a script verified the structure and cell references of each workbook and the payoff schedule of three example debts against a closed-form calculation. The files were not opened in a spreadsheet app; spreadsheet programs recalculate the formulas when you edit an input.
Price, refund and licence
USD 12, one-time payment, sold on Gumroad. Licence: personal use. Refund within 14 days via your Gumroad receipt if the files do not open or do not match the description. The Gumroad listing carries the same terms.
Get the budget spreadsheets, USD 12 on Gumroad
Other pages
See the United States edition, the United Kingdom edition, the Canada edition the debt payoff spreadsheet page, the debt payoff planner, the budget planner template and the student loan payoff spreadsheet.