Keeping up with your expenses doesn't have to be a tedious task. My favorite hack is using a free Microsoft Excel personal budget template, and I'll show you step-by-step how to customize a budget template to make tracking your income and expenses a whole lot easier.
Step 1: Download the Excel budget template
The first thing you need to do is to download the budget template. I like this free personal budget template from Microsoft Excel. You can find this one and a myriad of other free budget templates on Microsoft Create. Now, let me show you how to enter your income and expenses into the budget template.
Step 2: Enter your income in your budget template
To enter your income, go to the "Income" sheet. Here, you'll see a table with several categories, such as "Salary," "Freelance Income," and so on. Simply enter the appropriate amount for each category, and add any new income sources you may have below. For example, let's say you have a freelance project that earned you $500: you can add it to the appropriate category or create a new one.
Step 3: Enter your expenses in your budget template
To enter your expenses in your Excel budgeting template, go to the "Expenses" sheet. Here, you'll see a table with categories such as "Rent/Mortgage," "Utilities," "Food," and so on. Again, just enter the appropriate amount for each category and add new expenses as needed. For example, let's say your daycare expenses are $800. You can enter it right below here.
Step 4: Add extra columns to your budget template
Let's add a budget column so that we can compare our actual expenses to our budget. Let’s name column D "Budget" and enter your budget amounts for each category. Once you've added the budget column, you can calculate the difference between your actual expenses and your budget. To do this, let’s name column C "Difference." Then, subtract the amount you spent from the budgeted amount and autofill it down. Using this Excel budgeting template will give you a clear idea of how much you overspent or underspent in each category.
Viewing your Excel budget template
To make it even easier to see your Excel budget, you can use conditional formatting to highlight the cells with positive or negative differences. Select the cells in column C and go to the Conditional Formatting menu. Choose Icon Sets, and then select the icon set that you like best. The icons will change based on the values in the cells. This will help you identify which expenses were higher or lower than planned.
To view the summary sheet in your budget template, just click on the "Summary" tab. Here you'll see a breakdown of your total income, total expenses, and total savings for the month. The donut chart shows you the percentage of income spent. This information can help you make better financial decisions and stay on track with your budgeting goals.
That's it! Now you know how to use my favorite Excel template for budgeting - take charge of your finances today.
FAQs
Creating a budgeting plan for your household can feel overwhelming and hard, but Excel can help you get organized and on track with a variety of free and premium budgeting templates.
Can Microsoft Excel is a software that can be used to create a budget? ›
Creating a budgeting plan for your household can feel overwhelming and hard, but Excel can help you get organized and on track with a variety of free and premium budgeting templates.
How to make a budgeting spreadsheet? ›
How to create a budget spreadsheet
- Choose a spreadsheet program or template.
- Create categories for income and expense items.
- Set your budget period (weekly, monthly, etc.).
- Enter your numbers and use simple formulas to streamline calculations.
- Consider visual aids and other features.
Creating a project budget template in Excel requires some basic steps. Start by creating a new workbook and adding a worksheet for each major phase or deliverable of your project. Then, list the tasks, activities, or components for each phase or deliverable, along with their estimated costs and durations.
Which software is best used to create a budget? ›
Best Budgeting Apps Of May 2024
- Oportun (formerly Digit): Best for Passive Saving.
- PocketGuard: Best for Tracking Spending.
- Stash: Best for Automated Investing.
- Honeydue: Best for Couples.
- Monarch Money: Best for Replacing Mint.
- Copilot: Best for Apple Users.
- Rocket Money: Best for Managing Subscriptions.
One of the most basic and essential Excel formulas for project budgeting is SUM, which allows you to add up a range of numbers. You can use SUM to calculate the total cost of each budget category, such as labor, materials, travel, etc.
What is the best Microsoft app for budget tracking? ›
Spending Tracker is the easiest and most user friendly Personal Finance App in the store. And best of all, it's free! The simple fact is, by tracking your spending you will be able to stick to a budget and therefore SAVE MONEY.
Is Microsoft Excel free? ›
Microsoft 365 for the web is a free version of Microsoft 365 that you can use in a web browser. All you need is to sign up for a Microsoft account with a new or existing email address. Use Word, Excel, PowerPoint and more for free on the web.
Does Microsoft have a planner tool? ›
Planner is part of Microsoft 365, so it's highly secure like other Microsoft 365 apps. Microsoft 365 also connects Planner with Microsoft To Do, Power Automate, and more for efficient task management.
What is Excel budget template? ›
This set of templates in Smartsheet helps track monthly actuals against budget goals so you can tightly manage your financial performance and ensure your business stay on track. Track monthly actuals against budget goals by department. Receive automated budget and spend approval requests.
Let's jump right into the step-by-step guide!
- Step 1: Download our free expense tracker template. ...
- Step 2: Set up header information. ...
- Step 3: Set up expense categories. ...
- Step 4: Fill the template with line items. ...
- Step 5: Total expenses by category. ...
- Step 6: Add receipts and relevant source documents.
Monthly Budget Template for Google Sheets
Google Sheets' native free monthly budget template is a user-friendly income and expense tracker. It allows you to plan and track your expenses every month, ensuring you stay on top of your financial goals.
Can you use Excel to create a project plan? ›
Microsoft Excel is often used as a simple project management tool by project managers working on small- or mid-sized projects to help visualize, plan, and monitor progress.
How do I create a simple project in Excel? ›
How to Create a Project Plan in Excel (Step-By-Step)
- Add Headers to the Table. To begin, you must add some headers to your table. ...
- Add Your Project Information. ...
- Add Colors to Convey Project Status at a Glance. ...
- Create the Project Plan Timeline. ...
- Make the Project Timeline More Colorful.
Excel has a Gantt chart template that can be used for project planning and allows you to manage your project with ease. Similar to Resource Guru's project planning template, Excel's template allows you to enter start dates, the project's duration, and where each task stands in terms of progress.
Is Excel good for budgeting? ›
Creating a budget can help you plan your expenses and income over a period. While you may use various computer applications to prepare one, Microsoft Excel is a popular option because of its unique functionalities.
What does Microsoft Excel allow you to create? ›
You put data in your cells and group them in rows and columns. That allows you to add up your data, sort and filter it, put it in tables, and build great-looking charts.
What can Microsoft Excel create? ›
Contents
- Tools, Calculators and Simulations.
- Dashboards and Reports with Charts.
- Automate Jobs with VBA macros.
- Solver Add-in & Statistical Analysis.
- Data Entry and Lists.
- Games in Excel!
- Educational use with Interactive features.
- Create Cheatsheets with Excel.
Excel is generally better for analyzing data: performing complex calculations, exploring possible outcomes, and producing high quality charts.
