If you are serious about getting your finances in order or paying down your debt, you are in the right place. Our monthly budget template will help you achieve your financial goals.
Making a budget is easy, the hard part is having the discipline to stick to it.
If building wealth was a piece of cake, everyone would be rich.
But not everyone has the desire or drive to stick to a budget. But we think you do.
The good news is that it’s not very complicated, and the free personal finance budget templates below are a solid foundation to get you on your way.
Make sure you start here for a step-by-step on creating your budget.
Click below for our monthly budget template in Excel, Google Sheets, and PDF format:
Instructions On How To Use The Monthly Budget Template
Making a budget isn’t rocket science, but your time is important so you also don’t want to spend a few hours learning how to do it properly.
We created these budget instructions to help you get started.
You’ll want to account for all of your take home income and expenses and then make a plan for how you will spend, save, and invest your money.
We’ve tried every different way possible to save money and this was easily the most effective. If you want more cash, this is perfect for you.
Why Even Have A Monthly Budget?
You might be thinking that you don’t actually need a budget, let alone a monthly budget.
But the fact is that you are probably wrong.
Let’s face it, chances are that you probably Googled “monthly budget template” because you were looking for ways to save money and landed on this page.
Living paycheck to paycheck or not being prepared for retirement isn’t fun.
A lot of people even convince themselves for years that they don’t even need a budget. That they can live within their means and simply spend less money.
But years pass and they still can’t seem to save more than a few bucks every month.
Or perhaps you are just starting your career and you saw your parents struggle with money. We were in your shoes not too long ago.
We don’t blame you for wanting a better life with less worries about money.
You are in the right place. A strong monthly budget is your first step.
The Reasons Why You Should Budget On A Monthly Basis
If you are wondering why our template and budget guide recommend budgeting on a monthly basis, there’s a few good reasons.
First, budgeting less frequently than monthly makes your financial life more complicated. If you set a budget plan for the entire year in January, you will not remember how you even calculated some of the numbers after a couple of months.
Aside from simply making it easier to remember, the fact is that your income or expenses likely change on a monthly basis.
The fact is that some months are shorter than others or have more pay periods than others. This means that budgeting on a monthly basis gives you the flexibility and ability to be more accurate.
Finally, a month is a long enough time period that you won’t feel like all you do is make budgets. If budgeting on a monthly basis is better than budgeting on an annual basis, then wouldn’t budgeting on a weekly or daily basis be even better?!
Not exactly.
Think about the time that you’d spend creating a budget for every single day or week. Ouch.
Remember, a budget makes your life better, not worse! That’s why we LOVE budgeting monthly and you should too.
Is It Better To Budget In Excel, Using A Google Doc, Or A PDF Document?
The answer is that it depends on you!
If you are the type of person that likes to use a calculator and do everything by hand with a pen and paper, then printing out the PDF monthly budget template is the right move.
However, if the last thing you want to do is print out a piece of paper, then the Excel monthly budget template might be perfect.
For those of you who love Google docs and the fact that you can easily access your files from any device (including your phone), the Google Sheets Monthly Budget Template is the PERFECT solution!
We personally budget using a Google sheet because it’s easy to share with our wives. Budgeting should be a collaborative effort with your spouse! Using this is an easy way for both people to always have access to the file!
Please let us know if you have questions or comments about our monthly budget template!
