Want to keep track of how much money you make, save, and spend each month? You need a budget! Once you’ve created a budget, you’ll want a handy way to track everything, right? That’s where these free printable budget templates come in!
Whether you decide on a zero-based budget, a 50/30/20 budget, or another budgeting method, you’ll need a budget worksheet, template, or spreadsheet to help you manage your money.
Don’t be one of the 78% of US workers who are living paycheck to paycheck. Break the cycle and take charge of your finances today!
Psst…if a single budget printable is not enough for you, check out our top 10 budget planners for 2024!
When it comes to budgeting, there is no one right way to go about it. Which means when it comes to choosing the right budget template, the decision is totally up to you!
The right budget template will allow you to see all of your monthly expenses at a glance, so you can quickly identify any areas of your budget that may need to be adjusted.
A good budget worksheet will allow room to record your income and savings goals along with the most important budget categories of housing, transportation, and food expenses.
The most important thing to remember when choosing a budget template is to work with your personality, not against it. In other words, if you are not into spreadsheets, don’t try to track your budget with a spreadsheet!
Honestly though, do you even need a budget? I mean, is having a budget really all that important? Yes. Yes, it is! Creating and living on a budget can mean the difference between financial bondage and financial freedom.
If you want to stop living paycheck to paycheck, get out of debt, and build wealth, a budget can get you there.
Before you decide on which budget template (or templates) to use, you’ll want to make sure you understand the basics of creating a budget.
Creating a budget is as easy as 1, 2, 3:
If you come out ahead, you win! If not, look for things you can cut back on (the grocery budget is a good place to start), or increase your income with a side hustle.
Fill out your chosen budget template with your personal budget numbers using only the categories that are relevant to you.
Make sure you track every dollar for the best results!
Now, on to the best free printable budget templates…
I designed this budget printable to be both simple and functional. It comes in blank and pre-filled versions because I know not everyone has the same budget categories.
Even better, this budget template is completely editable! So, you can choose whether to print out a copy or type in your own budget categories and expenses and save it to your computer instead.
A pretty and colorful budget pdf that includes a place to log your savings as well as breakdowns of (8) budget categories.
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Now here’s something you don’t see every day! A budget worksheet for college students! The template shown below is filled in, however, a blank version is available on the site as well.
You can either download this budget template as a pdf or open it in Google Sheets if you’re into spreadsheets. I really like the simple design of this budget worksheet.
This worksheet is broken down by fixed, variable, and discretionary expenses. There are areas to track income, savings, and debt payments as well.
This next set of budget printables includes 10 different templates including a meal planner, debt tracker, and monthly budget printable.
Here’s a collection of budget printables with a pretty pastel design. It includes a bill payment calendar, savings tracker, net worth sheet, as well as a 2-page budget template.
This pretty yet functional budget planner pdf is a simple way to manage your finances. It is available in 3 different styles and includes a savings tracker, expense tracker, and a month at a glance budget sheet.
If you follow Dave Ramsey, you’ll know he recommends using a zero-based budget system. This budget template was created exclusively for the zero-based budget method. It starts out with fixed expenses, followed by debt payments, and finally, wants. The goal is to end your budget with a zero balance.
This template from The Savvy Couple is easily customizable. Even better, it auto-calculates your totals for you! It’s separated into fixed and variable expense categories so you can easily identify and fix any budget-busters.
The beauty of this budget template is that it leaves room for long-term expenses that are irregular in nature. So, you can make sure to budget for these expenses before they occur.
This free collection of budget printables includes:
This set of budgeting printables includes a budget at a glance, a budget overview, and a monthly budget tracker page. Use the one that works best for you, or use all three.
I love the simplicity of this budget template. It comes in 3 different colors and includes areas for income, savings, fixed and variable expenses.
Here’s a simple budget template perfect for beginner budgeters. It includes the basic budget categories to help you keep track of your spending.
Scattered Squirrel has a ton of free home management printables on their site. Including this set of blank budgeting templates for a yearly family budget.
This next printable includes my favorite colors and includes space to chart financial goals as well as progress made on those goals.
Another super simple budget printable that is designed to give you an overall view of your spending in each category rather than a breakdown of spending within those categories.
Here’s a comprehensive monthly budget worksheet that thoroughly breaks down virtually every possible expense in each budget category. I’m amazed at all of the information contained in this single page printable!
The easy monthly budget pdf below is left blank so you can customize it with your personal budget categories and totals. I like that there is a dedicated space to track sinking funds because irregular expenses have a way of sneaking up on us and ruining our budgets!
Take your budget everywhere you go with a budgeting app or spreadsheet. You can even use a combination of free printable budget templates along with one of the budgeting tools listed below. When it comes to budgeting, you can never be too thorough!
Does Excel have a budget template? Yes, yes they do. In fact, Excel offers a bunch of free and paid budget template spreadsheets for you to plug in your numbers and see your finances at a glance.
These templates are free with a Microsoft 365 subscription, and for a fee without the subscription.
Google Sheets also offers a simple budget template which gives you a snapshot of your finances. In addition, a quick Google search of ‘Google budget sheet templates’ will yield tons of custom-made templates for you to choose from.
Tiller Money combines the automation of an app with the flexibility and control of a spreadsheet.
How it works: Tiller automatically links your financial accounts to Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel so you can stay up-to-date on your personal budget.
Empower is not exactly a budget app, it’s more of a net worth tracker with a budgeting component built-in. If you have multiple investments and savings accounts to stay on top of, you NEED Empower!
Mint is a free app that helps you plan ahead for larger purchases as well as keep track of monthly expenses. The Mint app offers lots of free charts and graphs so you can easily compare expenses from one month to the next.
Everydollar is a free budgeting app by Dave Ramsey which utilizes the zero-based budgeting method. It’s an easy-to-use basic app that works much like the paper budget templates in this post, but in digital format.
You Need A Budget (YNAB for short) is an app that helps you gain control of your money. You can try it free for 34 days.
How it works: YNAB compiles your financial data into one easy-to-use format which you can access anytime across any device (it even works with Alexa). The app encourages you to set financial goals then motivates you to achieve those goals. If you’re a visual learner (like me), you’ll enjoy all of the eye-catching charts, graphs, and progress bars.
I hope these free printable budget templates are helpful to you!
I used to worry about living paycheck to paycheck… Then, I realized the way I thought about money was all wrong! So, I changed my money mindset, began saving more money, investing more, created a successful side hustle, learned to love budgeting, and paid off over $50,000 of debt. I rewrote my money story and you can too…let us help!
