Right click on the current budget tab at the bottom.Ĭ.

When it’s time to make a new budget, follow these steps:Ī. New budget: We make a new budget every four weeks. For instance, we save for Christmas gifts every month so that when November/December comes we have enough in our budget savings to cover it. This is where you save for things over many budget cycles.

It’s saved for a purpose, been bolded on our budget, and now resides in our budget savings tab. If you do make changes, just be sure to change the formulas at the bottom for each pay period by adding or subtracting the cells in the formula.īudget savings: This is a separate sheet and is how we keep track of money we have that we aren’t spending right now (savings). Feel free to change these up or add to or take away from them as you see fit. At the bottom, there are sums for each color. This is to help lump like items together. We take out cash for food, toiletries, hair care, and date night.Ĭolor by number: You’ll see that the budget is color coordinated. Just be sure to keep track of all your login/password information somewhere so you have easy access to them if you need to make changes.Ĭash : You don’t have to use cash for every category, but try for as many as you can. To do this you may have to fill out actual paperwork, but most can be done online. It will save you lots of headaches and smooth out peaks and valleys in your month-to-month budgeting.Īutomatic payments: We set up all of our bills on auto payment. Ask your provider to be put on budget billing. This is a rough estimate based on a complete fill up and has helped us budget our fuel expenses (a category that fluctuates a lot).īudget billing: You will quickly get tired of trying to guess how much your heat/AC bill is going to be. Fill in how many gallons your vehicle(s) hold, the current price of gas, how many times you anticipate filling up each vehicle per pay period (based on your upcoming schedule), and it will give you a total to add to your budget. At the end of the month you should be left with un-bolded items that need to be recorded on the “budget savings” tab and then bolded as well.įuel calculator: This is at the bottom.

Once you spend it, bold it: Once a transaction is complete and you have the correct amount noted on the monthly budget, bold it so you know that it’s been paid. Note the date bills are due in the column “A”: If you get paid on different dates each month, this will help you know what paycheck each payment will come from. (This info can also be found in the “HOW TO USE” sheet in the download.) 9 Tips to Making This Free Budget Spreadsheet Awesome:

Monthly expenses spreadsheet