Monthly Budget Kit spreadsheet
Plan every dollar at the start of the month, log what you spend, and see exactly where you stuck to the plan and where you didn't. One file for the whole year.
Get the budget kit ($7) Instant download · Excel (.xlsx) · tested in Excel · no macros
What's inside
- Setup tab: up to 50 categories, each tagged Income, Need, Want, or Savings, with a planned amount per month.
- Zero-based check: a live "left to assign" total. Adjust your plan until every dollar has a job.
- 50/30/20 check: your planned needs, wants, and savings as a share of income, next to your target split (change the targets if 50/30/20 doesn't fit).
- Transaction log: 2,000 rows with a category dropdown. Each entry lands in the right month and category automatically.
- 12 monthly tabs: planned vs actual for every category, money left over, and your savings rate. Change one month's plan (say, gifts in December) without touching the rest.
- Year summary: every category by month, yearly totals, monthly averages, and an income vs spending chart.
- Built-in checks that flag duplicate categories and transactions whose category isn't on your list, so totals stay right.
No macros, no add-ons, and no sign-up. It's plain formulas you can inspect and edit. A filled-in sample budget shows how it works; clear it when you're ready.
Zero-based and 50/30/20, together
Zero-based budgeting means you plan your income down to $0: rent, groceries, savings, fun money, all of it. Nothing is left floating. The 50/30/20 rule is a quick sanity check on that plan: about half your take-home pay on needs, 30% on wants, and 20% on savings and extra debt payments. The kit shows both on one screen, so you can see whether your plan is complete and balanced.
Just want a quick split of your paycheck? The free 50/30/20 budget calculator does that in seconds. The kit is for tracking it month after month.
FAQ
Does it work in Google Sheets?
It's made for Microsoft Excel and tested there: we recalculate every formula in Excel and check the results. It uses only standard functions (like SUMIFS, INDEX, and MATCH) that have been in Excel since 2010 and that Google Sheets and LibreOffice also have, with no macros, so you can upload it to Google Drive and open it with Google Sheets. We haven't tested every feature in Google Sheets or LibreOffice yet, though, and some formatting may look different there.
Do I have to log every purchase?
No. You can log one line per category at the end of the month (for example "Groceries, $512"), or type totals straight into a month tab.
Can I use it for a year that's already started?
Yes. Set the budget year on the Setup tab and start logging from the current month. Earlier months simply stay empty, and averages only count months that have transactions.
What if it doesn't work for me?
Contact us through the purchase receipt and we'll help, or refund you.