Budgeting is important whether you are planning to save for your own home or just want a better overview of your finances.
Creating a budget means you will have to track all your expenses as well as your income. There are many different ways of budgeting, from a zero-based budget to a 50/30/20 budget.
If you are not sure where to start with budgeting, then you can use one of the following free printable budget templates below.
These handy templates will help you getting an overview of your finances, so that you can start saving for your dream home, retirement or more.
How To Choose The Budget Template That’s Right For You?
Before we take a look at our list of templates, it’s a good idea to find out how you choose the right budget template for you.
When you are looking at your finances, there is no specific formula that you can follow as your financial situation is individual to you, and it depends on your lifestyle and living situation.
This means that finding the best budget template is up to your personal preference, and what works best for you and your financial situation.
A good budget template will give you an overview of all your monthly expenses. This will then help you to identify anything in your finances that you may want to change.
The best budget sheet will also provide plenty of space for you to record any savings, savings goals and your income.
Ideally, you should also be able to place any spending into categories, such as transportation, housing and food.
While these are the basic parts that a budget worksheet should include, the most important is that it adapts to your personality.
For example, if you don’t like spreadsheets, then tracking your budget in a spreadsheet is not a good idea. Find a format that works for you.
How To Use A Budget Template?
Tracking your finances can help you create greater financial freedom by checking where you can adjust your budget, pay off any debt, and save up some money.
Before you start with your budget template, it’s a good idea to look at how a budget template generally works and how you can use it for your budget (Find you What Is A Flexible Budget).
It isn’t very difficult to use a budget template. All you have to do is record your monthly income and your monthly expenses (including utility bills, food, entertainment, etc.).
Then, you will have to subtract your expenses from your income. If the number you get is not a minus, then that is good news as you have some spare cash to use elsewhere.
If your bottom line is not positive, then you can review what expenses you can cut back on. Many people start cutting down on their grocery budget first.
Alternatively, if you cannot cut down on any of your expenses, you can also look at increasing your income with a side hustle.
When filling in your budget sheet, you need to record the numbers as precisely as possible to get the best results.
With all this in time, it’s time to take a look at the best budget templates!
Free And Easy Budget Templates (Savvy Budget Boss)
This easy-to-use budget template is not just simple but functional. It comes in two versions: pre-filled or blank.
This means that you can even add your own budget categories in the blank budget template.
This brings us to another big advantage of this budget template. It is fully editable, so you can just add your figures and save them on your computer.
Alternatively, you can also print it and fill it in by hand.
Get your free printable budget templates from Savvy Budget Boss here
Handy Budget Printable Sheet (Printable Crush)
While you cannot edit this budget PDF, it gives you plenty of space to record your savings. It also has a number of different budget categories.
Get this colorful printable budget sheet here
Quick Budget Sheet For Students (College Life Made Easy)
Students always struggle with money, so here is a handy budget sheet designed for college students.
You can choose between a blank version or a prefilled template.
Get your student budget template here
Monthly Budget Sheet (Gathering Dreams)
What makes this budget worksheet so good is its simplicity. The design is very easy to use. You can even choose to open this template in Google Sheets as a spreadsheet, or you can download it as a PDF.
Grab your simple monthly budget template here
Simple Budget Template (Mom Managing Chaos)
With this budget sheet, you can easily track your income, debt repayments, and savings. All expenses are broken down into fixed, discretionary, and variable categories.
Get your blank budget worksheet here
Printable Budget Binder (Thirty Handmade Days)
Here is a set of budget printables that includes a range of templates, including a debt tracker, meal planner, and a monthly budget template.
Get your handy budget templates here
Free Budget Binder (Money-Minded Mom)
Another set of handy budget templates, these beautifully designed budget sheets include a net worth sheet, a savings tracker, a bill payment calendar, and a large budget template.
Grab your easy budget templates here
Budget Planner Printables (Blooming Homestead)
This simple budget planner PDF is not just pretty, but it allows you to manage your money easily.
You can choose between three styles: an expense tracker, a savings tracker, and a monthly budget overview.
Get your budget print-ready PDFs here
Easy Zero-Based Budget Template (Moritz Fine Designs)
The zero-based budget method is a popular way of budgeting. This handy template works with this budget system.
The template records any fixed expenses, debt repayments, and financial goals you set yourself. The thought is that there should be a zero balance in the end.
Download this zero-based budget template here
Simple Monthly Budget Template (The Savvy Couple)
A customizable budget template is always practical because you can adjust it to your living situation.
This template can categorize your spending into variable or fixed expenses.
Get customizable budget templates here
Family Budget Planner (A Mom’s Take)
The biggest benefit of this colorful budget template is that it allows you also to track long-term expenses that do not fit into your regular budget.
This means you can factor in any budget before they happen.
Download this family budget template here
Budget Binder Printables (Living Low Key)
Another large collection of budget templates, this set of printables comes with blank monthly budget templates, a bill checklist, a spending log, a due date calendar, and a cash envelope template.
Get a full budget template collection here
Family Binder Budget Printables from Clean and Scentsible
This practical budget sheet comes with an entire set of printable templates, including a budget overview, a budget at a glance, and a monthly budget tracker.
You can use either all three or just the one that suits you.
Download the family budget template here
Free Printable Budget Templates (Bobbi Printables)
The simple design makes this budget template very easy to use. There are three different colors with areas: savings, fixed and variable expenses and income.
Grab this simple budget sheet here
Budget Template (Microsoft)
If you are a budget beginner, then this template is for you. There are a number of basic budget categories that make sure you can record your spending quickly and easily.
Download this easy budget planner for beginners here
Monthly Budget Printables (Scattered Squirrel)
There are a lot of easy home management tools on this website, but this particular blank budget template allows you to keep track of your family budget for the year.
Get your family budget planner for free here
Free Family Budget Printable (A Spectacled Owl)
A colorful family budgeting planner, this printable PDF makes recording your expenses and financial goals easy.
Grab this colorful family budget PDF here
Simple Budget Template (A Cultivated Nest)
This template is ideal if you want to get an overview of your budget, with some essential spending categories.
Download this simple budget template here
Free Printable Budget Worksheet (My Frugal Home)
There is no fuss with this comprehensive monthly budget planner. You can break down all your expenses into a category, and keep everything on a single sheet.
Get this detailed budget template here
Free Budget Worksheet (Budgets Made Easy)
This easy worksheet for your budget is intentionally left blank so that you can customize it in almost every possible way with your totals and categories.
Download this free budget worksheet here
Budgeting Spreadsheets And Budgeting Apps
We already mentioned Microsoft sheets above, which provide you with an easy way to record your finances but there are plenty of other handy budgeting apps and spreadsheets.
Here are a few more budgeting tools that you do not need to print out.
Google Sheets Budget Templates
Google offers a variety of options to keep track of your budget, but the easiest way is probably with Google Sheets which provides a simple budget template.
This will give you an overview of your finances, and if you are looking for customized inspiration, just look out for custom-made templates with a Google search.
While you will need to pay for some of the other apps mentioned here, Mint is free. It allows you to track your budget and plan for larger purchases, such as a house.
It comes with a variety of free graphs and charts that make your expenses much easier to compare.
Tiller Money
This handy app combines the flexibility of a spreadsheet with the accessibility of an app. Tiller Money connects your accounts to Microsoft Excel or Google Sheets.
This helps you keep track of your personal budget every day.
You can download the Tiller Money app here
Everydollar
Supported by Dave Ramsey, Everydollar is a free budgeting app that uses the zero-based budgeting system.
It works in a very similar way to any paper template, just that this allows you to add all your figures and goals in digital form.
Personal Capital
Although this isn’t your average budget app, Personal Capital is a net worth tracker which incorporates a handy budgeting option.
You can get a quick overview with this app if you have several savings and investment accounts.
Download the Personal Capital app here
YNAB
This paid app helps to get control back over your spending, and although you will need to pay for it, a free trial offer typically allows you to test the app for a while.
You Need A Budget (YNAB for short) collects your financial data in one simple format with colorful progress bars, charts, and graphs. You can then access this data on any device.
The app also allows you to create financial goals and it encourages you to save.
Download the You Need A Budget app here
Final Thoughts
Managing your money is definitely made much easier with a budget template. Whether you prefer to record your finances on paper or in a digital tool, there are plenty of budget options out there.
As a current Mortgage Underwriter with 15 years of experience, I have seen my fair share of money-related issues. Whether that be high levels of debt, not enough credit, or simply a lack of funds - I’ve had clients who fit into these categories.
Here I will share tips, tricks, and experiences on how you can get yourself back in control of your finances.
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