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Are you having a hard time actually sticking to a budget?

Do you feel like it takes forever to track your expenses, write everything down, and add it all up? Or maybe you aren’t even sure where to start, or you aren’t very confident with math.

Well if any of these apply to you, you’re not alone. Because I struggle with this too.

Fortunately for you, I created an amazing Spreadsheet to help you actually stick to a budget, save tons of time, and avoid any confusing or difficult math. Plus the best part… is it’s FREE!

So make sure you read this post to get your FREE Budget Spreadsheet and learn how to easily track your finances.

What is a budget?

If you are completely new to finances, and managing money, or you need to start watching your spending, then a budget is what you need. A budget is essentially a method of tracking income and expenses and balancing the two out. Once you’ve got an idea of how much you typically spend on expenses, you will know how much you need to make each month in order to fully cover those expenses.

So you will create a “budget” amount, which helps you to avoid overspending on certain items each month. This ‘budgeted’ amount will be your guide as to how much money you have each month to spend on specific categories.

Does a budget work for just anyone?

If you are wondering whether a budget works for anyone and everyone, the answer is yes. Absolutely.

People from all backgrounds and levels of wealth can use a budget to help manage finances. Even businesses big and small have budgets to help manage finances, avoid discrepancies, overspending, and maintain a steady profit stream.

So before you just jump into budgeting you need to first understand the basics. I promise it won’t take long and it is really important for starting a successful budget, so just bear with me.

To start a budget, you first need to know what your income is, and what your expenses will be. This may be difficult if you have a job with inconsistent hours or pay, or if you have expenses that vary wildly from month to month.

Don’t get frustrated if this is you. This is where the budgeting comes in. Whether you have a crazy variation between income and expenses, or you have a more consistent and reliable paycheck each month, a budget can help anyone.

Even more beneficial is a budget that covers a year’s worth of income and expenses. This will tell you your average monthly balance, where you spend most of your money, and places you can cut back to save a few dollars. It can also give you an estimate of your expected tax amounts, how much more you can put into paying off debt, and more. Maybe even saving back each month for an amazing vacation getaway!

So, how do I start budgeting?

To start budgeting, make sure you sign up to get your FREE Budget Spreadsheet sent directly to your email. Once you get that, you will be able to start recording your information, and the spreadsheet will do the rest of the work for you!

In your FREE Budget Spreadsheet, I include all 12 months, and a yearly overview. Each month includes a balance report sheet to allow you to track your totaled expenses, and your budgeted expenses. These totaled numbers are automatically calculated into your yearly overview page so you can easily visualize how well your budget is working.

The yearly over view page totals all of your income, expenses, budgeted expenses, and actual costs from every month, and displays this in a visual graph so you can easily see how well you are balancing your monthly budget.

Do I have to track my income/expenses for several months before I can decide how much to budget for?

No you don’t! You can simply start with an estimated amount for your budget and then adjust each month as your needs and situation changes.

So you’ll start with the expenses/income that you know about. If you earn a salary rather than hourly pay, this will be easier to track. And for the expenses that are consistent, like rent/mortgage, internet bills, or subscription fees are the first things you’ll include in your budgeted columns.

Then, as you begin to understand how much each category costs you each month, you can start adjusting and fine tuning the budget.

Doing this for a year gives you a much better idea of what your average monthly budget will look like too. But even tracking just a few months can help you gain a better understanding of how to balance income and expenses.

Track your income

To begin budgeting you need to know what your exact income and expenses are. If you don’t receive a paper paystub, sign into your employer’s digital paycheck site or program. If this is not an option for you, sign into your banking and credit card account(s) online, and look at your monthly statements.

This is where you will see your paycheck as an automatic deposit. If you do not receive automatic deposits or otherwise have access to a digital view of your income, you will need to keep track of your income by checking your paper paystub and writing it down in your FREE Budget Spreadsheet.

If you have other forms of income such as dividends from stocks, social security, disability payments, or some other income, you will want to keep track of this as well. So make sure you are aware of your log in information for these services, or can otherwise track this income.

Track your expenses

When tracking your expenses, there are several different methods you can use. This will depend on your payment methods of either cash, check, or card.

I have found the method that I prefer over others, is to look at my monthly bank and credit statements and type these amounts into my spreadsheet. This requires more time at the end of the month but allows for more convenience during the day.

Unfortunately, this method is not always as accurate because I sometimes miss things that I have paid for in cash. But if you heavily use cards, then this may be more convenient for you too.

Other Methods of Tracking

A method that can work just as well, is to keep track of payments as you make them. This can be a little less convenient on a daily basis, but minimizes any slip-ups with cash payments. It can also help hold you more accountable to your spending habits if your struggle with overspending. I know this is something I often struggle with too. So when I notice I start to overspend, I begin tracking a little more on a daily basis until I am back on track.

Holding onto receipts is beneficial for this method as well. However, if you use this method though, you will need to keep track of reoccurring costs like subscriptions and auto-payments as well. You don’t want to forget to include these in your FREE Budget Spreadsheet.

If you prefer a more passive form of budgeting though, there are ways you can do this. You can take advantage of free tracking apps like Mint, which allows you to connect your bank accounts or credit cards. This app will then categorize your purchases for you, total them up, and even show you spending trends, and income reports. However, with this method it can be really easy to forget about your budget, and ignore the purpose of it.

Enjoying this post? You may also enjoy these other related posts too.

• Easy Beginner Finance tips for people in their 20’s
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• Why You Need an Emergency Fund
• Why Every Student Needs to Take a Personal Finance Course

Categorizing Expenses

Now’s the time to start categorizing your expenses. Tracking expenses is the most time-consuming part of budgeting, but also the most important part. It is also about 90% of what makes up a budget.

What makes it a little easier though, is to first prioritize known costs, followed by consistent costs. A known cost would be your rent or mortgage. This is usually the same, or very similar from month to month. A consistent cost would be your utilities, phone bill, subscriptions, insurance, and other costs that run around the same price each month. If you prioritize tracking these expenses first, it makes the process a bit easier.

Next, you will want to track essential expenses like food, transportation, and child/pet care. These are necessary for you to live day to day. When tracking food, keep groceries and eating out as separate categories. The reason you want to keep them separate is that eating out is usually a convenience or luxury and isn’t a necessity (in most cases).

When tracking transportation, you will want to track gas, maintenance, monthly payments, and insurance. If you are interested in saving on the cost of gas, then you might be interested in Michelle’s post, Legit Ways To Find Free Gas Cards + How To Save Money On Gas.

For those who don’t have a car or motor vehicle, keep track of your taxi bills, Uber, bus tickets, or other public transportation costs. If you use a bicycle, keep track of how much it costs to repair and maintain it.

Lastly, when tracking child care and pet care, you only want to track any cost that isn’t already part of other categories. This would include babysitting or pet sitting, dog grooming, dance or music lessons, for example. Also, include things like sports, toys, and games. Costs like pet food or transportation to and from daycare should be in those categories. Pet food goes into groceries, and the daycare commute goes into transportation.

Other Expenses

Any other costs you might have each month will need to be tracked too. If you set aside a certain amount each month for something like an emergency fund, then include this in expenses. Even though you are technically “saving” this amount, you are still budgeting this amount to be set aside for later access.

Any extra money you have each month should also have a home. If you are ever under budget, you will want to use this extra cash for a few things. Any high-interest debt (usually this is anything over 7%) should receive this extra cash. If you are saving up for a new car, this can be the start of a down payment. Or you can use the extra cash to fill up your emergency fund or to invest for your retirement or other high priority.

Maybe you want to have a weekend binge. So budget out what you feel comfortable spending on that binge. Then put the rest into a savings account, emergency fund, a retirement fund, new car, house fund, stock portfolio, or more. I would always recommend having a place, or destination, for your money. Give each dollar a dedicated home.

Make your money work for you, don’t just work for your money.

Utilize a Yearly Budget

If you haven’t already, you will want to print off the FREE Budget Spreadsheet to get a better idea of how to better balance your finances.

Once you’ve accessed your FREE Budget Spreadsheet you can start your budget journey.

If you want a quick overview of how to use this spreadsheet, then continue reading for a brief tutorial.

Monthly Balance Sheet

There is a monthly balance sheet for all 12 months from January through December. This balance sheet includes housing expenses, personal expenses, transportation, food, and more. Here is where you will write down the category of each expense and write down an estimated budget. At the end of the month, after tracking all expenses, you will fill in the “actual cost” column for each category.

Any cell in the FREE Budget Spreadsheet that has a formula in it should NOT BE edited. These will automatically calculate your expenses and total them up into your yearly overview page.

After the monthly balance sheet, you will see a monthly expenses sheet. Here is where you write down the dates, descriptions, categories, payment types, and cost of each expense. There is a column on the right-hand side of this sheet that will automatically total the costs of each category. So all you have to do is fill in the expenses and carry the totals over to your monthly balance sheet.

This whole process should not take you much more than and hour or two tops each month. And as you get more practice you will be able to fill out your FREE Budget Spreadsheet much quicker.