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Budgeting isn’t something that comes naturally to most of us; figuring out how to put together the numbers, what can be spent, what has been spent, what will be spent, and when – it’s a challenge, especially for those who have little experience with managing their finances. However, it can be done if you take the right approach, and there are now many tools out there that will make your budgeting life easier.
Let’s find out how to make a budget in Google Sheets so that you’ve got a way to track your income and expenditure, and start making a difference to your finances.
Key Takeaways
1.Tiller Foundation Template for Google Sheets
2. Ben Collins Budget for Google Sheets
3. Monthly Budget Template for Google Sheets
4. Monthly Budget Calendar for Google Sheets
5. Weekly Budget Worksheet by Smartsheet
6. 50/30/20 Instant Budget Calculator
7. Poor Man’s Budgeting Spreadsheet
8. The Budgeting Spreadsheet for People Who Don’t Know How to Budget
9. Budget Planner by 20 Something Finance
10. The Budget that Helped a Family Save 60% of Income
11. Budget and Transaction Tracker with Google Sheets
12. RegPaq Google Budget Sheet
13. Annual Budget by Google Sheets
14. SmartSheet Budget Templates
15. Vertex42 Personal Monthly Budget
16. The Measure of a Plan Budget Tracking Tool
17. The Finance Twins’ Monthly Budget Template
18. Get Rich Slowly’s Free and Simple Budget Planner
19. Budgets Are Sexy’s Best Free Budget Templates and Spreadsheets
21. The Frugal Fanatic’s Free Monthly Budget Template
22. Budget and Transaction Tracking Template
23. Zero-Based Budgeting Template from SmartSheet
24. The Frugal Gene Budget Template
25. The 50/30/20 Google Sheets Template by Simple Budget Planner
Google Sheets are free to use and cloud-based, and they have a vast range of uses. Tracking and managing budgets is one of the common and extremely effective ways to make use of these sheets. It can make understanding your budget so much easier, even if you’ve never budgeted before.
Google Sheets allows you to create spreadsheets that will make sense of numbers and help you monitor them going forward. You can also use the many templates that are out there for budgeting, which means you’ve got a head start, regardless of what your budgeting needs might be.
There are plenty of advantages associated with using Google Sheets for budgeting:
Creating a budget in Google Sheets starts with understanding your financial goals and gathering all necessary financial information. It's essential to know your income sources, fixed expenses, variable expenses, and savings goals. Before diving into the spreadsheet, take a moment to outline your financial priorities, such as reducing debt, saving for a major purchase, or managing monthly expenses more effectively.
By having a clear picture of your financial landscape, you'll be better equipped to organize and utilize the tools within Google Sheets to create a comprehensive and effective budget.
After you have a good picture of your financial goals, you will need to start by setting up a Google Sheet. Name it something logical, and consider including a date. If you’re going to use a template, you’ll need to open it and save it.
Next, you’ll have to input your income and expenses; all templates will require this information from you before you can make a start.
If you’re going to build your own sheet, you’ll need to create a column for your income and a column for your expenses. You could split your expenses column into essential and non-essential, or monthly and yearly. There are other options too, so play around with this.
However, rather than building your own, it’s much easier to just use somebody else’s version – so in a moment, we will cover some of the top options out there and help you find one that’s right for you.
Once you’ve got some of the information in your spreadsheet, you’re ready to start tracking and analyzing your budget! Input information as you continue spending throughout the month, and you’ll soon find that your income and expenditure are easier to track. At this point, you’re analyzing your budget!
That’s all there is to it, but many people want a more detailed and useful approach to their numbers. Rather than having to create this from scratch by yourself, you may want to use a template. Let’s therefore check out some of the best existing budget templates that are available for download.
Here are 25 reliable and trusted free Google sheets to help you get started.
This template has multiple sheets, which include transactions, spending trends, monthly budgets, yearly budgets, balances, and more. This helps people gain insight into their spending over longer periods and spreads the information out to prevent confusion.
The blogger Ben Collins has offered some excellent tips for building your own template, including thinking about the “why” (what your template should do for you), understanding the basic formulas, and updating regularly.
Google provides its own monthly budget template that you can download for free, and edit to suit your preferences. This is a simple template that covers all the basics you might need, breaking categories down into eating out, maintenance costs, and bills.
Similar to the above, the Google Sheets Monthly Budget Calendar covers the basics of budgeting in a clean, easy-to-use format.
Many people prefer to work week to week, rather than month to month, and this template will allow you to do so. It also has options for monthly budgeting. The template is straightforward to fill in, saving you time and effort, and making it easy to get started right away.
The 50/30/20 Instant Budget Calculator is a great way to make sure you’re spending your money in sensible ratios, putting aside the right amount for living costs, savings, etc. It’s simple and effective and lets you prioritize your money effectively.
This is intended for people who are living paycheck to paycheck and have no additional money each month to put aside. It encourages frugal spending each day, helping individuals track all their spending and avoid unnecessary purchases of any kind.
Budgeting spreadsheets can be very straightforward; they don’t have to do fancy things like following trends, looking at your overall yearly outgoings, etc. Just creating a basic sheet that tells you your income and expenditure each month can work very well, helping you see what you need to put aside to cover your costs each month.
This spreadsheet helps you track everything you need to do financially, covering things like Medicare expenses, taxes, phone costs, student loans, and so much more. It has everything you could need and it’s free.
You may have heard about the family that managed to set aside 60% of their income. It’s obviously not feasible for all of us to do that, but you can follow their tips for good results nonetheless! Things like keeping all receipts, staying under spending limits, tracking all expenses, and more all help. They’ve created a Google Sheets template to assist others.
This template provides you with a tracker for your expenses, allowing you to see what money you spend with which stores, and cover things like business expenses too. There are monthly and weekly overview options and helpful breakdowns.
RegPaq has also created a budget sheet for Google, and it’s based on financially secure approaches to spending and saving. It helps encourage people to put money aside for the things they may need later.
Having an annual budget is pretty key to making sure you stay on track across the spread of a year, and Google’s annual budget sheet is a good start. It helps you log totals for all your expenses, pay attention to your outgoings, and tot everything up for the end of the year.
SmartSheet has created a variety of budget templates for people to check out, whether they’re managing business budgets, household budgets, or something else. They’ve got a whole range of selections, allowing people to find a suitable sheet for almost any situation.
Another personal monthly budget sheet, this one’s great for tracking both goals and your spending reality all in one place.
If you want insight into everything, the Measure of a Plan tool could be for you. It categorizes and logs expenses, showing monthly trends, comparisons against income, and more – essentially, you’ll learn everything you could want to know about your finances.
If you struggle to stick with a budget, you may find the approach by the Finance Twins particularly valuable, helping you to stay on track month after month. It encourages you to stick at it for the long haul, making a more meaningful impact on your finances.
All budgets do require you to spend a bit of time every week or every month (really as a minimum) filling them in. This is the only way to make sure you stay on track, but it can be straightforward if you’ve got a template that works for you.
Another very simple option, this budget planner has information about how much you can spend each month, rather than just tracking what you do spend. This helps limit your outgoings and makes it easier to stick to your budget. You can also make adjustments if needed, so it’s got great flexibility.
This site offers a whole range of budget templates and spreadsheets, mostly created by freelancers. You can find everything from simple to complex, and you’ll get a detailed description of exactly what makes each one so great. That makes it super easy to select the one that suits your needs, whatever they may be.
If you haven’t built a budget before, you may wish to spend some time browsing through the different options until you find one that suits you. There are so many choices, and you’ll want to make sure you get the right one!
With helpful guidance on how to set up and manage your budget, this template provides you with formulas that make it easy to understand your money. You can just add your data to the relevant fields, and the template will perform a wide range of functions for you!
You can input generic categories to start with, and then hone them as you become more experienced in budgeting, which is an excellent approach. To begin with, you may just wish to put things like “groceries,” but once you’re more experienced with budgeting, you might break this down into categories, or decide to split out some costs, such as pet food, into a separate column.
For families aiming to grow their savings, the Frugal Fanatic’s template could be perfect. It’s straightforward enough for even an inexperienced budgeter to use it with ease, but detailed enough to be handy. You can prioritize savings and reduce your expenditure easily with this tool.
Not everybody wants to focus on savings, but this can be an excellent way to do it, even if you’re not familiar with spreadsheets or the tool.
There are plenty of other options too; even Microsoft has created budget and transaction tracking templates available for their users. Like all spreadsheets, you do have to bring discipline to the equation; if you fail, your budget will quickly go off track.
It’s important to find a template that works for you, so don’t be afraid to look around until you find one that does.
For a super simple option that lets you compare the amount you have spent with your intended budget, you might want to check out SmartSheet’s Zero-Based Budgeting Template. It’s so easy to use, making it an ideal option for beginners, but it breaks down expenses nicely.
What we particularly like is that it includes an “adjustable” section for expenses that aren’t fixed. That means you know these amounts may change regularly, encouraging you to enter them accurately each month. Finally, it gives you a very simple balance box at the bottom, letting you know precisely how much money you have left at the end of the month!
This is a budget sheet with lots of benefits, such as automatically generating both monthly and annual summaries for you, making it super easy for you to see what’s going on. The sheet can be used by people in a whole range of circumstances, and the color coding is a super useful feature that helps you quickly see whether a number is positive or negative.
With graphs, balances, and even a miscellaneous category for spends that just don’t fit anywhere else, this is an excellent budget sheet for those who like detail and want to understand exactly what’s in their bank accounts.
If the 50/30/20 approach appeals to you, you might want to opt for the Google Sheets version, which is easy to download and use. It logs income, necessary outgoings, and casual expenditures, so you know exactly how your money is being used and whether you’re being effective.
This helpful sheet also keeps track of your savings, encouraging you to put money aside for a rainy day, and making it easier to log what your savings balance looks like. Furthermore, it compares that to your savings targets, so you know if you’re on track or not!
If you are looking for a good budget sheet or making your own, here are some qualities we look for to make our sheet the most useful.
A one-size-fits-all approach rarely works when it comes to personal finance. With customizable budget categories, you can tailor your budget to reflect your unique spending habits and lifestyle needs.
Google Sheets allows you to create and modify categories easily, making your budget more accurate and relevant. For instance, if you frequently indulge in takeout, you might separate "Dining Out" from "Groceries" to get a clearer picture of your spending.
Likewise, pet owners can add a dedicated "Pet Expenses" category to track costs related to food, vet visits, and supplies. Customization ensures your budget is detailed, allowing you to manage your money more effectively and stay on track with your financial goals.
Breaking down your spending into weekly or daily intervals can provide invaluable insights into your financial behavior. A budget template that includes sections for daily entries helps you stay on top of your expenses in real-time.
This granular tracking can reveal patterns of overspending before they become significant problems, allowing you to make quick adjustments. For example, if you notice that you're spending more on coffee runs than you budgeted, you can curb this habit before it impacts your monthly budget. Additionally, weekly summaries offer a clear overview, helping you avoid last-minute splurges and ensuring you remain within your budget.
Numbers alone can be overwhelming and difficult to interpret, but when transformed into visual elements like pie charts or bar graphs, they become much more digestible. Google Sheets allows you to create these visual aids within your budget template, offering a quick and easy way to understand your financial data. For example, a pie chart could break down your monthly expenses by category, instantly showing you how much of your income is allocated to housing, utilities, groceries, and entertainment.
Saving money consistently can be challenging, but automation makes it easier to stay on track. Google Sheets can be customized with formulas that automatically calculate and allocate funds to your savings goals each month. For example, you can set up a formula that directs 10% of your income into an "Emergency Fund" or "Vacation Fund" as soon as you enter your earnings.
This kind of automation removes the need for manual transfers, ensuring that you save regularly without having to think about it. Over time, these automated contributions can grow significantly, helping you build a robust financial cushion with minimal effort.
Debt management is a critical component of financial wellness, and a dedicated section for debt payoff tracking in your budget can make a big difference. Google Sheets allows you to track various aspects of your debt, including payment dates, minimum payments, interest rates, and remaining balances.
You can even prioritize debts by interest rates, helping you pay down high-interest loans first. This detailed tracking provides a clear roadmap for becoming debt-free, offering motivation as you see your balances decrease over time.
When managing finances with a partner or family member, clear communication and transparency are key. Google Sheets makes collaborative budgeting easy by allowing you to share your budget template with others. You can set different permission levels, such as view-only or editing rights, depending on your needs.
This shared access ensures that everyone involved in the financial planning process is on the same page, reducing misunderstandings and fostering better communication.
Understanding your spending habits over time is essential for making strategic financial decisions. Google Sheets enables you to analyze trends by tracking your monthly expenses and comparing them across different periods.
For instance, you might notice that your spending spikes during the holiday season or decreases during the summer.
By identifying these patterns, you can adjust your budget accordingly—perhaps setting aside more money for gifts in December or ramping up savings during lower-spending months. Additionally, a yearly overview can aggregate all this data, giving you a big-picture view of your financial progress over the year. This feature is invaluable for long-term planning and goal setting.
One of the most powerful strategies for effective budgeting is distinguishing between "needs" and "wants." This categorization helps you prioritize essential spending while identifying areas where you can cut back. In a Google Budget Sheet, this system can be easily implemented by creating separate categories or labels for needs and wants.
In your Google Budget Sheet, you can use color coding or separate sections to differentiate between needs and wants. For example, you might highlight all need-based expenses in one color and want-based expenses in another. This visual distinction can be a constant reminder of your priorities, especially if you’re working towards specific financial goals like saving for a house, paying off debt, or building an emergency fund.
By categorizing expenses this way, you can also set more realistic spending limits. If you find that your wants are consuming a large portion of your budget, it may be time to reassess your spending habits and reallocate funds to more critical areas.
In a traditional budget, unspent money in a category might simply disappear at the end of the month, but with a rolling budget, these funds can carry over to the next month. This feature is particularly useful for managing irregular expenses, such as medical bills or car repairs.
By rolling over unspent funds, you can create a financial buffer that helps cover unexpected costs when they arise, reducing the need to dip into savings or rely on credit. Rolling budgets encourage smarter spending and provide more flexibility, helping you make the most of your money month after month.
Managing shared expenses with roommates, partners, or friends can be complicated, but Google Sheets simplifies this process with built-in formulas for expense sharing. Whether it’s splitting rent, utilities, or grocery bills, you can create a system that automatically divides these costs according to the agreed-upon ratios. This ensures fairness and transparency, reducing the likelihood of disputes.
Budgeting Is the Best Way To Stay Financially Focused
As you can see, there’s an almost limitless number of free Google Sheet budget templates available for people to make use of. If you’re wondering how to make a budget in Google Sheets, we’d advise starting with one of these. You may later decide you want to create your customized version, but having a strong starting point with a template can be invaluable!
Note: The content provided in this article is for informational purposes only. Contact your financial advisor regarding your specific financial situation.
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