8 Easy-to-Use Budget Templates
Picture source: Getty Pics.
Whether you’re single, part of a duo, or even head of a large family, creating a budget is a good way to track expenses and income to keep you on track toward your financial goals. Albeit a plain home budget worksheet can be scribbled out with plain pencil, paper, and a calculator, today’s technology means you have access to many easy-to-use budget templates online.
8 free budget spreadsheets
Many of these budget templates use Excel spreadsheets, but you’ll also find a few for Google Docs and OpenOffice. Find the budget template that best suits your financial situation, download it to your computer, and you’ll be ready to commence better managing your money. Here are eight of the best free budget templates available to download.
Plain budget template
If you’re fresh to budgeting and your expenses are few and easy-to-track, plain is best. This basic monthly budget worksheet comes from My Excel Templates and provides a elementary spreadsheet for your monthly and annual budget. This template permits you to customize the pre-populated spending categories to match your lifestyle.
Individual budget template
Pic source: Microsoft Office.
Microsoft Office offers a free individual budget template that’s a good option for singles or couples looking to get commenced with individual finance budgeting. This template shows a summary of the month’s income, expenses, savings, and cash balance, as well as a circle graph displaying the percentage of income spent each month.
Family budget template
Budgeting for a family can be more complicated than budgeting for just one person. This free family budget template from Vertex42 is available for Excel, OpenOffice, and Google Docs. This family budget planner includes categories for various home expenses and for children’s expenses, too, so you get a good look at just how much your children cost each month.
Weekly budget template
If you’re looking for a free budget planner to track expenses on a weekly basis, this planner from Spreadsheet123 could be just what you need. This weekly home budget template budget is available in Excel, OpenOffice, or Google Docs.
Annual budget template
Sometimes it helps to get an overview of your entire year’s budget. This editable yearly private budget template planner from Budget Template presents a calendar year’s worth of budgeting information in a horizontal spreadsheet. It also includes categories for dividend and other investment income.
Household budget template
This Excel household budget worksheet from Vertex42 has space for your household income and expenses, including household-specific expenses such as lawn care, maintenance, and home insurance.
Free budget template with financial snapshot
If you need a budget template that not only tracks your income and expenses but also gives you an at-a-glance look at your current financial situation, this is it. This free budget template, from Budgets Are Sexy, comes with a financial snapshot and is available as both an Excel budget template and in Google Docs format.
Budget template for students
For many students, going away to college is the very first time in their lives they’ll be solely responsible for managing their own finances. Commence out on the right foot with this free downloadable Excel college budget template — available directly from Microsoft and ready to customize to your own needs.
How to make a budget
If you still feel like you can’t find a budget template that’s just right, you can always make your own budget. To commence, you’ll need to track at least two basic categories — income and expenses. Begin by adding up all sources of after-tax income on a monthly basis, as this makes it lighter to calculate how much money you have available to meet your expenses, since many of them, such as rent and utilities, are very likely billed monthly.
Next, list all of your immobile expenses. These are expenses you already know the amount of, such as:
- Rent or mortgage.
- Insurance payments.
- Car loans.
- Student loans.
- Cable and internet bill.
- Savings contribution.
Then, add in your variable expenses that have amounts that might switch monthly, such as:
Add up all of your income and all of your expenses. If your expenses are greater than your income, it’s time to find ways to cut costs. And if you have money left over after all your expenses are paid, you’re doing superb. You could increase your savings contributions, pay down debt swifter, or even consider making a regular monthly charity donation.
No matter what format works for you, the significant thing about budgeting is to begin now. Getting a treat on where your money goes as soon as possible will give you the information you need to make any necessary switches. Then, you’ll be better able to achieve your short- and long-term financial goals.
This article originally appeared at GoBankingRates.
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