Household budget spreadsheet

A household budget works when it is quick to keep up. If logging a grocery run takes ten seconds, you will still be doing it in March.

The Monthly Budget Planner has one transaction log with dropdown categories (600 rows). From that, it fills a monthly dashboard with income, spending, money left over and your savings rate, plus a category tracker with planned, actual and remaining for up to 40 expense categories and 8 income sources. Progress bars turn red when a category goes over. A year-at-a-glance tab totals every month with averages and a trend chart.

A setup tab lets you name your own categories, and the download includes a blank planner and a filled-in example. It is part of the Personal Finance Bundle with the debt payoff, savings goals, paycheck and sinking funds templates.

What you get

You get two files, a blank template and a filled-in example, plus a Start Here guide. Open them in Microsoft Excel, or upload them to Google Drive and open them with Google Sheets (free). You type in the input cells; the formulas, totals and charts update themselves.

Tips

• Set your planned amounts from last month's real spending, not from hopes.
• Log spending a few times a week; it takes minutes when it is a habit.
• Look at the dashboard together as a household once a month.