Budget Spreadsheet for Google Sheets & Excel

About this spreadsheet

Most budget templates stop at a list of categories and a total. This one runs your whole money year. You set it up once with your income, your categories and your accounts, then log transactions as they happen. The monthly tabs, the dashboard, the bill calendar and the yearly totals fill themselves in from what you entered.

It works as a zero-based budget, where every dollar gets a job, or as a carry-over budget, where what you did not spend rolls into the next month. You pick the method in the setup tab. Couples can add more than one person and see who earned and who spent what.

Alongside the budget sit the tools people usually keep in separate files: a sinking funds tracker, a debt payoff calculator with the snowball and avalanche methods, a net worth tracker, an investment forecast and a no-spend challenge. You get the Excel file and a link that makes your own copy in Google Sheets.

What's inside the spreadsheet

Setup

Choose your currency symbol, the year and month you start, and whether the budget is zero-based or carry-over. Add the people in your budget, your income sources and your categories, grouped as bills, expenses, savings, subscriptions and debts. Every other tab uses this list, so you set it once.

Bank accounts and credit cards

Enter each checking and savings account and each credit card with a starting balance. Log transfers between accounts, including credit card payments, so balances stay right without counting the same money twice.

Recurring and variable transactions

Enter a recurring bill once with its frequency, start date and optional end date, and the spreadsheet schedules it for the year. A payment schedule lets you tick each bill as paid or adjust one occurrence. Everything else goes in the variable transactions log, which you can sort and filter.

Monthly tabs and the paycheck budget

Twelve monthly tabs compare what you planned with what you actually spent, category by category, with a filterable transaction list. If you plan by paycheck instead, the paycheck tab builds the same view for a weekly, bi-weekly, semi-monthly, monthly or custom period.

Dashboard, annual totals and bill calendar

The dashboard summarizes the year: income, expenses, savings, bills to pay and paid, where the money goes, and a summary of each savings and debt tool. Annual totals show every category by month, budgeted or real. The bill calendar shows past and upcoming bills on a monthly grid with weekly summaries, and prints on one page.

50/30/20 and income and expense distribution

Tag each transaction as a need, a want or savings and debt, and the 50/30/20 tab checks any month against your targets. The targets start at 50/30/20 and you can change them. The distribution tab shows who in the household earned and spent what over any period.

Sinking funds

Set a goal and a monthly goal for each fund, such as car repairs, holidays or a vacation, and log contributions as you make them. The tab shows the amount left, progress, months left and an estimated finish date. It stands on its own, separate from the monthly tabs.

Debt calculator

List each debt with its balance, interest rate and minimum payment, add an extra monthly payment, and choose the snowball method, the avalanche method or your own order. You see the payoff date of each debt, the total interest and your debt-free date.

Net worth and investment forecast

The net worth tab totals your assets and liabilities and tracks how your net worth grows. The investment forecast projects an initial and monthly investment at a return rate you enter. It is an estimate for planning, not an investment tracker.

Money challenge

A no-spend challenge counts the days you spent nothing, using the months you already logged, against a target you set. Five more challenge slots let you pick a habit, such as coffee or takeout, see what it costs over a year and track days without it.

What's included

• Excel file for the Excel desktop app
• Link to make your own copy in Google Sheets (free Google account needed)
• Step-by-step PDF guide to every tab
• Instant digital download, nothing ships

Why people choose it

• Zero-based or carry-over budgeting, your choice
• Budget by month or by paycheck: weekly, bi-weekly, semi-monthly or custom
• Recurring bills scheduled for the whole year from one entry
• Debt snowball, avalanche or custom payoff order with a debt-free date
• Works for one person or a couple, with any currency symbol

How it works

1. Download

   Buy through secure checkout and download your files straight away. The link is also emailed to you.

2. Set it up once

   Open the Excel file or make your Google Sheets copy. Enter your currency, start month, people, income, categories and accounts on the setup tab.

3. Log and review

   Add recurring bills once, log other spending as it happens, tick bills as paid and check the dashboard each month.