Free Printable Monthly Budget Worksheet

Updated on July 10, 2024

Free Printable Monthly Budget Worksheet. 31 days of free printables to get your home life organized. Today’s printable is a monthly budget worksheet. Add it to your planner or home management binder.

Welcome to Day 19 of the 31 Days of Homemaking Printables series.

Today is the last printable for the finance section of your home management binder. I am sharing a printable budgeting worksheet for you to use.

I initially did not include one here since there are so many great ones on the web, but I wanted something to coordinate with the other printables.

How to Create a Budget

The first step in creating a personal budget is to gather information about your income and expenses.

Calculating your monthly income is usually pretty straightforward. Add the net incomes of everyone contributing to the household. Also, add any side jobs or money coming in from other sources.

Note: Use your net income (the amount you receive after taxes, 401K, etc.), not your gross income, to get a better idea of what you have to spend each month.

Next, you will need to determine your monthly expenses. Gather all your monthly bills and add them to the form.

Bills:

• Rent or Mortgage
• Utilities
  • Electricity
  • Gas
  • Water
  • Sewer
  • Trash
• Car Payments
• Insurance
• Cell Phones
• Internet
• Television or Music Subscriptions
• Childcare
• School Loans
• Personal Loans
• Gym Memberships

RELATED: Monthly Bill Payment Tracker

Then, use receipts or your bank account ledger to figure out what you are spending on expenses that are not fixed.

I use Quicken Home and Business to log every transaction, so I know exactly where our money goes monthly. I even break down the receipts to show where every dollar went.

If you want to write this information out, you can use the Printable Expense Tracker.

You don’t have to get this specific, but if you are spending more than you are making each month, this can be a helpful tool to determine where to cut spending.

Variable Expenses:

• Groceries and Eating Out
• Clothing
• Personal Care
• Household
• Pets
• Medical and Dental
• Gas
• Travel
• Entertainment
• Credit Card Bills

Fixed Expenses vs. Variable Expenses

You may have heard the terms fixed or variable expenses.

Fixed expenses include any expenses in your budget that remain the same month after month. These tend to be easier to plan as you know exactly how much you must put aside each month.

Variable expenses will vary from month to month. You have more room to adjust these expenses to create a zero-based budget.

Zero Based Budget

There are many ways to create a budget, but my recommendation has always been zero-based.

In this type of budget you decide where every single dollar of your income will go, so that at the end of the month your income – expenses = zero.

Sinking Funds

Sinking funds are a type of savings account used to set aside money for expected expenses that don’t occur every month.

Examples are yearly insurance, a trash bill every three months, or school supplies every year in July/August.

You know you will need to pay these bills eventually, so by setting aside a little every month for these extra categories, you don’t have to scramble when the bill comes in the mail.

Some examples of sinking funds:

• Vacations
• Gifts
• Christmas
• Holidays
• Birthdays
• Vet Bills
• Auto Maintenance
• Home Maintenance
• Bills (semi-annual or annual)
• School Supplies
• Clothing
• Insurance Premiums

Write down every category you can think of for things you spend money on yearly but don’t necessarily spend on each month.

Then, to calculate how much to set aside each month, use the total amount due and divide by the number of months you have until you pay it.

For example, say you purchase home insurance every six months, costing $500. You would divide $500/6 months to know you need to set aside $83.33 per month to have enough money for when the bill is due.

Emergency Fund and Savings

When money is tight, thinking about saving anything seems impossible. But having savings built up in case of emergency is what can keep you from going under.

Most experts recommend starting with a $1,000 emergency fund. This money should be used only in emergencies and replenished as soon as possible after use.

Work towards putting money aside from each paycheck until you can fully fund your emergency savings account.

You could also have money left over at the end of each month. When doing a zero-based budget, you account for every dollar. Putting any extra money into savings is a great idea!

Other items you may want to save for are college savings or retirement.

You can track your specific savings goals with this printable savings tracker.

How to Use the Printable Monthly Budget Worksheet

Start by filling out your income section. Then, fill out each category with your specific expenses.

The expense areas are blank, so you can fill out the unique expenses for you and your family. You will fill the first column with the amount you expect to receive or spend.

As the month progresses, fill out the actual amounts you received or spent in each category. At the bottom of the last page of the worksheets, you will see a place to total all your expenses for each column.

At the end of the month, calculate the differences. A section at the top of the first page summarizes your income vs. expenses.

The goal is to have your income minus expenses equal to zero each month. That way, you have planned for where every dollar should go.

See where you can change your spending habits if you have a negative balance. This usually comes from the variable expenses.

You can also see if there is a way to increase income. This could be temporarily doing side jobs, selling things around your house, or working online.

Free Printable Budget Worksheets

I am sharing this free monthly budget worksheet to help you take control of your finances. It includes categories for income and expenses.

Download: Monthly Budget

This download is for personal use only. Do not share the direct link to the .pdf/.jpg file. When sharing, please link back to the original post.

HOME MANAGEMENT BINDER PRINTABLES

31 days of free printables to organize your home life.
Check out all the free printables in the 31 Days of Homemaking Printables series.

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