Monthly Budget Spreadsheet

Who this is for

One month's money, planned against actual. Income at the top, spending line by line underneath, and the difference worked out for each line and the month.

Anyone running a household or a single income who wants to see, before the month ends, whether the plan and the reality are drifting apart.

What this helps you track

• What came in this month, from wages, benefits and anything else
• What you planned to spend on each thing and what you actually spent
• The lines where the plan was wrong, and by how much
• What is left at the end — or how far short the month fell

How to use it

1. Write the month at the top and enter the income received — wages, benefits or pension, and anything else — in the three income boxes once it arrives.
2. List your spending lines — one per bill, category or regular purchase — and enter the planned amount for each before the month starts.
3. Fill the actual column through the month as money goes out; a running figure is more useful than one written from memory at the end.
4. The browser and spreadsheet versions work out each difference and the four totals at the foot; on paper, subtract line by line and add up.
5. Carry anything you learned — a line that is always over, a source that is always late — into next month's planned column.

Formats

• Printable PDF (A4 and US Letter)
• Fillable PDF with form fields
• Fill in online, saved in your browser
• Excel / Google Sheets workbook

The printable is laid out inside a box that fits both A4 and US Letter, so the two files are identical and neither one is scaled. The fillable PDF has real form fields. The workbook uses plain formulas only — SUM, IF, COUNTIF and the like — so it opens in Excel, LibreOffice and Google Sheets without anything breaking, and every calculated cell is grey so you can see which figures it worked out.

How to print

Download the A4 or US Letter file to match the paper in your printer, open it in a PDF reader and print at 100% — not "fit to page", which shrinks the writing space. Both files leave a 14 mm margin, which clears the unprintable edge on home printers. To print the online version with your entries in it, use the Print this sheet button, which prints only the sheet and none of the page around it. More on printing.

Questions

How much should I be spending on each category?

The sheet does not say, because no fixed split suits every income and every rent. Enter what you actually plan to spend; after a month or two the actual column will tell you which planned figures need to move.

What is the difference column measuring?

Planned minus actual, so a positive figure means you spent less than planned and a negative figure means more. The totals row and the summary add the column up, so the month's overall drift is one number.

Does it handle irregular income?

Yes. The income boxes take whatever arrived, and the other-income box is for anything that does not fit the first two. If you want each payment listed separately, the bill payment calendar has a table of pay dates.

Can I keep several months?

Print one sheet per month, or save one browser copy per month — the online version keeps its data in your own browser, so a new tab is a new month. The annual budget spreadsheet shows twelve months side by side.