- A category budget sheet with two columns, actual and target, and the variance between them calculated for you.
- An automatic percentage split, so you can compare your month against well-known rules like 50/30/20 without having to believe any of them.
- A savings-first line at the top rather than at the bottom, which is the only structural difference between a budget that saves and one that does not.
- A monthly savings rate summary.
Excel template · Step 3
Personal budget
A budget is not a list of prohibitions: it is a decision made in advance about what you want your month to look like. This template puts the two columns side by side - what you did and what you meant to do - and works out the distance.
Download the template
- Format
- XLSX
- Size
- 10 KB
- Sheets
- 2
- Price
- Free
What's inside
How to use it
- Fill in the actual column first, with data rather than intentions: take it from the expense tracking template or from your statement.
- Set your saving as a fixed line at the top, before allocating anything else. If it is whatever is left over, you are not saving; you save by moving it first.
- Fill in the target column without heroics. A budget that requires a perfect month gets abandoned in week two.
- Look at only the three largest variances. The rest is noise.
- Review it monthly, not annually. A budget is either a living document or a dead one.
Frequently asked questions
Is the 50/30/20 rule any good?
As a starting point, yes; as a rule, no. It is a reasonable reference for somebody who has none, and it stops making sense the moment housing takes 45% of your income, or when your situation looks nothing like that of the person who coined it. The template works out your real percentages so you can decide using yours rather than somebody else’s.
Why does saving go at the top?
Because saving left until the end is the saving that does not happen. Treating it as one more bill - one that gets paid first - is the single change in the method that works on its own, without requiring more discipline for the rest of the month.
What if my income is irregular?
Budget on your weakest month of the last twelve, not on the average. Good months feed a buffer, and the buffer pays the salary in the weak ones. It is more work upfront and it avoids the boom-and-cut cycle that empties every variable-income budget.