Car Purchase Budget Worksheet

Who this is for

Set a price ceiling before you look at cars. The sheet adds what you can put towards a car to the costs of buying and running it for the first year, and shows the most you can pay up front and what is left each month.

Anyone buying a car, new or used, with cash, part-exchange, finance or a mix, who wants the first year's costs counted before choosing a price.

What this helps you track

• Cash and part-exchange money available up front
• One-off costs of buying, apart from the car itself
• Monthly costs, including any finance, insurance and fuel
• The first-year total for owning the car
• The highest price the budget allows and the monthly headroom

How to use it

1. Write your name, the date you hope to buy, the cash you have, the part-exchange value you expect and the monthly amount you can afford.
2. Against each cost line, enter any one-off amount and any monthly amount, from quotes where you have them.
3. Add lines for anything particular to you, such as a charger, a parking permit or breakdown cover.
4. The first-year column and totals are worked out in the browser and workbook; on paper, one-off plus twelve months.
5. Read the maximum purchase price and monthly headroom from the summary and use them as your limit when you start looking.

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

Why is the car price not in the table?

Because it is what the sheet is working out. Everything else is listed, and the summary takes the one-off costs away from the money you have up front to give the most you can spend on the car itself.

Where do finance payments go?

In the monthly column on the finance or loan line, from the quote you have been given. The monthly headroom then shows whether they fit alongside running costs.

How do I estimate fuel?

From your own mileage and a fuel cost you choose, or from what you spend on your current car. The sheet supplies no prices or consumption figures.

What if the headroom is negative?

Your monthly costs are more than you said you can afford. Try a cheaper insurance group, a smaller loan or a lower-cost car, and rework the lines.