Monthly budget template
A monthly budget in Excel: income, planned and actual spending by category, and what is left.
- ๐บ๐ธ US format ยท Letter size
- Free
Pick your options and the preview updates. The file opens in Excel, Google Sheets or Numbers.
The file is built in your browser. Nothing is uploaded or saved.
Sheets
- How to use
- Summary: planned budget, total spending, difference, income and what is left for each month, plus spending by category (all formulas)
- Budget: planned amount by category and month (optional)
- Expenses: date, category (dropdown), description, amount, payment method, fixed or variable
- Income: date, source, amount
Color key
- Yellow cells: fill these in
- Blue cells: formulas, leave them as they are
- Gray rows: examples you can delete
1 / 2
Expenses (first rows)
| Date | Category | Description | Amount | Payment | Fixed/Variable |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-10-01 | Rent/mortgage | Rent | 1,450.00 | Bank transfer | Fixed |
| 2026-10-02 | Transportation | Monthly transit pass | 96.00 | Credit card | Fixed |
| 2026-10-03 | Utilities | Phone bill | 65.00 | Debit card | Fixed |
| 2026-10-05 | Dining | Lunch near the office | 12.75 | Credit card | Variable |
| 2026-10-05 | Groceries | Weekly groceries | 86.42 | Debit card | Variable |
Summary
| Item | Oct 2026 | Nov 2026 | Dec 2026 | Jan 2027 | Feb 2027 | Mar 2027 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Budget | =SUM(Budget!...) | =SUM(Budget!...) | =SUM(Budget!...) | =SUM(Budget!...) | =SUM(Budget!...) | =SUM(Budget!...) | =SUM(...) |
| Total spending | =SUMIFS(...) | =SUMIFS(...) | =SUMIFS(...) | =SUMIFS(...) | =SUMIFS(...) | =SUMIFS(...) | =SUM(...) |
| Difference (budget minus spending) | =Budget-Spending | =Budget-Spending | =Budget-Spending | =Budget-Spending | =Budget-Spending | =Budget-Spending | =SUM(...) |
| Income | =SUMIFS(...) | =SUMIFS(...) | =SUMIFS(...) | =SUMIFS(...) | =SUMIFS(...) | =SUMIFS(...) | =SUM(...) |
| Left over (income minus spending) | =Income-Spending | =Income-Spending | =Income-Spending | =Income-Spending | =Income-Spending | =Income-Spending | =SUM(...) |
| Rent/mortgage (by category...) | =SUMIFS(...) | =SUMIFS(...) | =SUMIFS(...) | =SUMIFS(...) | =SUMIFS(...) | =SUMIFS(...) | =SUM(...) |
This shows the first part of each sheet as it prints on Letter paper. The file also has a how-to sheet and formulas, and every column fits one page width when you print from Excel.
How to use it
Pick the first month and how many months you want. You get a Summary sheet, an Expenses sheet and an Income sheet in one file. Day to day you only touch Expenses: date, category, description, amount. The Summary adds everything up by month and by category with formulas.
Turn on the Budget sheet if you want to type a planned amount per category and see the difference each month. If you only want to track where the money goes, leave it off.
Things to watch
The totals key off the date and the category name. Keep dates as real Excel dates and pick categories from the dropdown, or type them exactly as they appear on the Summary sheet, or the line will not be counted.
The formulas are SUMIFS and SUM, so the file works in Google Sheets too. The dropdowns may need to be set up again there.
Calculators that go with this
Frequently asked questions
Can I use it in Google Sheets?
Yes. Upload the file to Google Drive and open it with Google Sheets. SUMIFS and SUM work the same there, and typing expenses from the phone app is a good fit.
How do I add or rename a category?
Rename it on the Summary sheet (or copy a category row to add one) and change the dropdown list on the Expenses sheet under Data Validation. The totals only match when the names are identical.
What happens when the months run out?
The simplest option is to make a new file with the next first month. To keep going in the same file, copy a month column on the Summary sheet and change the DATE(year, month, 1) values inside the formulas.
Is what I type saved anywhere?
No. Everything stays in your browser and nothing is sent to our server. If you refresh the page it is gone, so print, save a PDF or download the DOCX when you are done.