Zero-based budget spreadsheet

A zero-based budget means you plan every dollar of income before the month starts, so income minus your plan equals zero. Savings and debt payments are categories too, so nothing is left unassigned.

The Monthly Budget Planner makes that easy to keep up. Name up to 40 expense categories and 8 income sources on the Setup tab and set a planned amount for each. Then log transactions on one tab with dropdown categories. The monthly dashboard shows income, spending, what is left and your savings rate, and every category has a progress bar that turns red when you go over. A year-at-a-glance tab totals every month.

It comes as a blank planner and a filled-in example, works in Excel and Google Sheets, and is an organizing tool, not financial advice.

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

• Add savings and extra debt payments as categories so they get planned first.
• Adjust the plan until income minus planned spending is exactly zero.
• When a category runs over, move money from another one rather than leaving it red.