But just how do you take what seems an arduous task and make it a regular habit that helps you fulfill your daily tasks while meeting your goals? Thanks to ready-to-use budget spreadsheets, you can not only manage your budget but simplify the tasks involved further with some handy Excel templates. Check out our list of Excel templates – some available online and others downloadable – that can help you manage your budget.
1. Personal Monthly Budget Worksheet
With this template, you can take control of your finances by comparing your budget against your expenditure. A discretionary spending field is included to help you track your expenses.
2. Family Budget Planner
No matter the size of your family, planning the budget can prove to be a challenge regardless of how often you’ve done this before. There are many items to account for from categories such as groceries, school tuition, mortgage or car payments, utilities, and much more. So it’s easy to lose track of things. This template allows you to budget while projecting earnings and expenditures for a full year, including possible income changes and variable expenses.
3. MoneyTracker
Tired of figuring out where your money goes? The MoneyTracker, a downloadable smartphone version of Excel, will help you find it. This mobile app is specially created for smartphones and features a clean, organized design. It also makes it easier to track your spending on the go, whether you’re online or offline.
4. Savings Goal Tracker
With every turn, there’s always something that you want to spend money on, but this can derail you from your goal of saving money. Whether that is the latest version of a smartphone or gaming software, the “feeling” that you have to have it can be fought off with this budgeting template. The Savings Goal Tracker gives you a better chance of charting your savings and seeing the progress. This will motivate you to focus more on your personal financial milestones than the temptations calling out for your wallet.
5. Travel Budget Worksheet
This is an easy to use template that is ideal for people who love to travel. It’s so crucial to have a budget, no matter the trip or distance you have to cover. It also shows you how much you have left after projected expenses are subtracted from the total budget.
6. It’s Your Money
This site offers custom, downloadable Excel spreadsheets that have been created for an assortment of things. You can use them for daily, weekly, or monthly purposes, or a combination thereof. You can find templates for household budgeting, loan amortization, planning for future expenses, box budget, cash flow budgeting, and tracking debt loads. While they may not be fancy-looking, on the whole, they’ll help your budgeting tremendously. An assortment of free or low-cost money management spreadsheets are also available for personal use.
7. PearBudget
This free budget spreadsheet offers a comprehensive household monthly template you can download and use with Excel. You can also use it with other spreadsheet software that offers support for xls file formats. It features an analysis tab that analyzes your expenses by budget, category, and month. Additionally, the tab shows differences between your budgeted and actual spending. An updated online version of the budget spreadsheet is available as a free 30-day trial. It doesn’t require a download. Have a favorite Excel template you use for your budgeting? Tell us about it below. Image credit: It’ s Your Money, Vertex42, Pearbudget