How To Create a Budget Template in 7 Steps (With Tips)

Creating a budget template is a great way to get organized and stay on top of your finances. Not only will it help you stay organized and have a better understanding of where your money is going, but it will also help you save money and stay within your budget. Developing a budget template can be a difficult task, but with a few simple steps, you can easily create a budget that works for you. In this blog post, we’ll provide an overview of how to create budget template, as well as tips and tricks on using a budget template to help you stay on track and make the most of your money.

1. Step 1: Pick Your Program. First, select an application that can create and edit spreadsheet files. …
2. Step 2: Select a Template. …
3. Step 3: Enter Your Own Numbers. …
4. Step 4: Check Your Results. …
5. Step 5: Keep Going or Move Up to a Specialized App.

What to include on a budget template?

When creating a budget template, consider determining your expenses first. Your paycheck’s value as well as any additional incoming cash, such as commissions, bonuses, tax refunds, and monetary gifts, can be considered. Your monthly expenses, such as those for transportation, healthcare, entertainment, debt repayment, or insurance, can also be included in your budget.

When making a budget template, keep the following costs in mind to include:

What is a budget template?

You can use a budget template as a tool to manage your expenses. When using a budget template, you can use a spreadsheet to effectively plan your monthly income and keep track of your spending. The template includes sections where you can group your monthly income and potential monthly expenses.

How to create a budget template

Seven steps are listed below that you can use to make a budget template:

1. Identify goals

When making a budget template, it can help to know your main financial objectives because it will help you achieve your milestones more quickly. Try to identify the costs that are most important for each goal, such as any monthly payments you may have to make or any leisure activities you’d like to engage in. Long-term objectives can also be set, such as saving for a house, a new car, an emergency fund, or a family vacation.

2. Set timely goals

Setting monthly or annual budgets when creating your template might be helpful for helping you achieve your goals more quickly. You can pay for immediate expenses like rent, utilities, car payments, food, and leisure activities by setting monthly goals. Setting yearly spending limits allows you to put money aside for bigger purchases like furniture, a car, or a home. Setting more achievable goals for yourself also benefits from tying them to timeframes.

3. Establish net income and budget

Knowing your net income, or what you take home after taxes, can help you create a monthly or annual budget. Your pay stubs or W-2 forms will show your net income. This can help you determine your expenses for a specific period of time, such as how much you can spend during a biweekly pay period, by giving you an idea of what you can spend and how to divide your expenses evenly.

Additionally, you could use this to decide exactly when to make payments. For instance, to make sure you have the money you need, schedule your mobile phone payment for the day of or right after your pay day.

4. Calculate mandatory expenses

Calculating your mandatory spending for each pay period—which may be weekly, every two weeks, or monthly—is crucial when creating a budget template. You can choose how much money you want to set aside based on your pay schedule in order to pay your bills promptly. Mandatory costs can include those with a set price, such as rent, utilities, and phone plans. Other costs to take into account could be those for food, gas, cleaning supplies, and toiletries.

5. Select leisure expenses

You can benefit from allocating money in your plan to support leisure and entertainment activities. Including this can benefit you because having money to do fun things can enhance your work-life balance and general happiness. Saving money can be used for things like going out to eat, traveling, watching movies, and going to sporting events or concerts.

6. Add monthly expenditures

You can add your mandatory and recreational costs after calculating them to get an idea of your monthly spending. This can help you monitor your daily or weekly expenses by enabling you to set yourself a monthly allowance. It can also assist you in figuring out how much cash to deposit into a savings account.

7. Adjust budget as necessary

It might be necessary to make changes to your budget template after you’ve finished it throughout the month. Prioritizing the goods and services you want to buy can help you make sure you have money set aside for unforeseen costs like car maintenance. You might benefit from setting aside less money for your leisure costs in order to better prepare for unforeseen expenses. It can also change your budget to reflect positive events, such as a pay raise at work or the elimination of a monthly car payment.

Tips for creating a budget template

Here are some ideas to keep in mind as you create your budget template:

Create a savings account

You can gain from setting aside a certain sum of money from each paycheck for savings. By doing this, you can increase the amount of money you have on hand for when you later face unforeseen expenses. You can achieve your objectives more quickly if you have money set aside in a savings account for unanticipated expenses or when saving for significant purchases like a house or car.

Divide payments

You can manage your finances and create a more balanced budget by paying off your monthly bills in installments. If your phone bill is $100, for instance, and you are unable to pay it in full at once, you can pay $50 the first week of the month and $50 in two weeks. This may enable you to settle the entire invoice while preserving greater financial flexibility throughout the month.

Make payments on time

A large portion of budgeting includes making payments on time. There might be late fees associated with your late payments, increasing your overall spending. Making payments on time can also help you build credit, which can lower your monthly costs for some expenses and increase your savings.

Divide your paycheck

Consider creating a budget for each week or every two weeks if you only receive payment once per month or if you want to improve the way you track your monthly spending. To do this, divide your anticipated spending from each paycheck. You can make sure you have money available for your expenses throughout the month by allocating a budget for each week.

Track large payments

Keep an eye on every significant purchase you make, and adjust your spending plan as necessary. Try to prepare for those unforeseen costs if you have bills that are due every two to three months. You may find it helpful to keep track of the due dates so you can make your payments on time. For example, car registrations might only be due once a year, so keeping track of when this payment is due can be helpful. Being aware of the deadline for car registration can help you make sure you have the money available because it can be a significant expense.

Excel Budget Template | Automate your budget in 15 minutes

FAQ

How do you create a simple budget sheet?

1. Step 1: Open a Blank Workbook. …
2. Step 2: Set Up Your Income Tab. …
3. Step 3: Add Formulas to Automate. …
4. Step 4: Add Your Expenses. …
5. Step 5: Add More Sections. …
6. Step 6.0: The Final Balance. …
7. Step 6.1: Totaling Numbers from Other Sheets. …
8. Step 7: Insert a Graph (Optional)

Does Microsoft Word have a budget template?

1. Step 1: Open a Google Sheet. …
2. Step 2: Create Income and Expense Categories. …
3. Step 3: Decide What Budget Period to Use. …
4. Step 4: Use simple formulas to minimize your time commitment.
5. Step 5: Input your budget numbers. …
6. Step 6: Update your budget.