Best Excel Budget Tracker Template
Your budget is your lifeline when it comes to your financial future. It helps to have an easy way to improve the efficacy of your strategy by keeping track of key data points.
When you are on a mission to improve your finances, a personal budget tracker template for Excel can be your best friend. This program runs on Microsoft Excel and is incredibly effective for money management and planning out your personal finances.
The ultimate recipe for successful budgeting is analysis, followed by improvement. And it can be made almost effortless thanks to the predesigned format laid out in this free budget spreadsheet.
So, what are you waiting for? Let’s go ahead and dive in! We will teach you exactly how to use the template and show you several additional tips on using it to the fullest extent possible.
How to Use an Excel Budget Tracker Spreadsheet
Many claim that they can create a budget tracker template. However, few of them offer the level of convenience that our template will.
True, any software can offer you all of the most amazing features in the world, but if you do not know how to use it, it will not do you much good. So, let’s start learning how to use our amazing program to help you truly make a difference in the future of your life.
Microsoft Excel is the program we will be using to fill out your budget tracker. Most computers already have this program installed on their devices. If not, there are a few alternative programs out there that can also run this file.
Once you are sure that you have the proper software installed, you’re ready to go.
Downloading the Budget Tracker Excel Template
- Download Excel Templates’ budget tracker template.
- On the budget worksheet, you’ll see a link that says Click here to download now. Click that button, and you should be able to open the file within a few moments.
- Once the file has been downloaded, go ahead and click on the icon so it will open up for you.
The next few steps are all going to be about inputting data. Let’s go ahead and look at the categories of data that we will be inputting.
Inputting Data on the Excel Budget Template
- Notice the Starting Balance section of the template at the very top. This is where you put your total monthly expenditure limit.
- The next category is income. This is where you put every source of income and the amount of income you have received. It is broken down into several categories. The wages and tips category is the first category where most people will have most of their income. Track your total wages and tips by the month. At the end of every month, put the total amount into this cell.
- Now, go ahead and do the same process for the remaining items. These will include earnings from investments, such as dividends and interest, and other earnings, such as gifts or inheritance.
Tracking Your Expenses
Tracking your expenses helps you break down your finances and monthly expenses as clearly as possible. On our expense tracker template, you will see three main categories: home expenses, transportation expenses, and healthcare.
It is worth noting that this is simply a template, so it will not have every possible thing you could expect from a budget planner. If there are other major expense categories for you, then feel free to create additional cells so that you can track them as well.
Underneath each main category, you will see several typical example categories. Again, this will not be a comprehensive list, but it is a great place to start.
Home Expenses
For example, you can add items such as a mortgage, rent, homeowners insurance, utility bills, and maintenance items under Home Expenses. Keep track of your proceeds throughout each year, and at the end of every month, tally up the total for each category.
Transportation
You can include vehicle payments and auto insurance for the Transportation category. You can also include related items such as public transportation costs or vehicle repairs.
Healthcare
You can put your monthly copayments and deductible payments in the Healthcare Costs section. Any fees you have spent going to a doctor will also be put here. Again, break everything down as much as possible so that you can look back at the end of the year with an enhanced clarity that is brought about by greater detail.
You are ready to tally up the difference between your total income and expenses for each month to see where you are at. Go ahead and save the file so you can share it with anyone you need to share it with, such as a personal finance manager.
Give it a title that will allow you to easily retrieve it in the future without getting stumped by forgetting the name. You can also click the print icon while you’re at it. This will allow you to see a print preview where you can make last-minute changes.
Now that it looks perfect, let’s go ahead and get a copy of this printed out. It will work best if you have it somewhere you can see it daily.
Additional Tips on How to Use Our Excel Budget Template
While this budget template is a phenomenal piece of software, it has its limitations. Any budget tracker will suffer from the same flaw other templates suffer. They are meant to be generic to apply to as many cases as possible. This leads to many cases where it is not a perfect fit but a good one.
However, this problem is easily alleviated using the great customization features of the software. Modifying this free budget template to make it your own will give you a greater sense of personal attachment to the outcome and help you fulfill your financial goals sooner.
Make budgeting less stressful with our budget tracker Excel template!
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