This free monthly budget template lists your income and every planned cost in one place, shows how much is left to assign, and lets you download the result as a spreadsheet. You can also download a blank copy to fill in later.
How to fill in the template
- Start with income you actually receive after tax this month. If your pay varies, use a cautious figure.
- Fill in needs from your most recent bills and statements rather than from memory.
- Add wants at the level you really spend, then decide what to change.
- Give your goals an amount, even a small one.
- Adjust until the amount left to assign is zero or a little above.
A worked example
Priya is hypothetical. This teaching example uses US dollars, not typical costs or an affordability recommendation.
Priya’s take-home pay is 2,900 and side work adds 300, so income is 3,200. Needs come to 2,260: rent 1,100, utilities 160, groceries 420, transport 200, insurance 140, phone and internet 90 and minimum debt payments 150. Wants come to 340: subscriptions 35, dining out 120, entertainment 60, personal care 45, gifts 30 and other shopping 50. Goals are 450: 200 for the emergency fund and 250 toward a savings goal. The plan totals 3,050, leaving 150 to assign. Priya can add it to a goal or keep it as a buffer for next month.
Needs, wants and goals
The template groups costs the same way as the 50/30/20 budget planner and shows each group as a share of income. In this hypothetical example, needs are 70.6% of income. That describes these inputs only; it does not establish what is typical or affordable. The shares are information, not a pass or fail mark.
Using the spreadsheet download
The download is a CSV file that opens in Excel, Google Sheets or Numbers. It is created in your browser from the numbers on screen, so nothing is uploaded. Text that a spreadsheet could treat as a formula is saved as plain text.
The form has fixed categories. The CSV is a snapshot, not a workbook with automatically recalculating formulas; add your own categories and formulas in a spreadsheet if needed. Downloaded files remain on your device and need your own protection. Enter all income and costs in the same currency: Display currency changes labels only, and the CSV amounts do not include a currency code.
A positive remainder is still unassigned money, not guaranteed savings. Name its purpose and check bill dates; monthly totals alone do not show whether money is available before payday. Keep existing reserves separate from new income, and do not count a transfer between your own accounts as new income or a second expense. This template is general education, not personalized financial advice.
Where the method comes from
Listing income, listing expenses and comparing the two is the basic budgeting method described by the Federal Trade Commission’s consumer.gov guide to making a budget and the CFPB budget worksheet. For costs that do not arrive every month, add the monthly set-aside from the sinking funds calculator as a goal line.