Using a personal budget template is one of the easiest ways to start managing your money better and reach your financial goals.
It’s time to stop the money stress and take back control. You just need a simple budget template, tracker, or spreadsheet to help you track your money.
Luckily there are plenty of free budget templates and financial tools available for you to use.
So, what are the best budget templates, tools, and apps for you to use? Let’s take a closer look at our favorite options.
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Quick Picks
- Best Hands-Off Budgeting App – Empower (formerly Personal Capital)
- Best Personal Budget Template for Beginners – Printable Monthly Budget Template
- Best For Advanced Budgeters – Google Sheets
1. FREE Monthly Personal Budget Template
We created our FREE simple budget template to be as straightforward and easy to use as possible. You can customize and use it for any financial situation!
Our free template is both printable as a budget worksheet and digitally like a spreadsheet that will auto-calculate for you.
We found when you are first getting started with a monthly budget, nothing beats pen and paper, hence why we made a whole budget planner and some templates for you! We even have a meal plan template as well.
Add your income at the top, then subtract your fixed costs, variable expenses, debt, and savings, then watch our digital budget auto-calculate your monthly cash flow at the bottom.
You can head here to grab our FREE budget template now.
If you get paid biweekly, I also have a free biweekly budget template so you can budget your expenses per paycheck every other week.
2. Google Sheets Budget Spreadsheet Template
Of course, Google never lets you down with its products and services!
Google Sheets has plenty of budget templates and spreadsheets to choose from, and unlike Microsoft Office, it’s free with your Gmail account.
If you love looking at the numbers and tracking every last penny, then a Google Sheets budget spreadsheet will be perfect for you.
This type of template is perfect for individuals that like complete control and are great with numbers. Using a budget spreadsheet is a very hands-on method of budgeting.
3. Microsoft Excel Budget Template
Microsoft Excel has some incredible budget templates that you can use if you have Microsoft Office, you can pick a budget spreadsheet for whatever suits your needs.
Microsoft has a variety of products and services, and their templates range from personal family budgets, monthly budget templates, holiday budget templates, budget calculators, and even wedding budget trackers, they have plenty of free options to use.
Each spreadsheet will come with basic expense categories for different situations, which you can change up how you need very easily.
If you can’t find a pre-made template that will fit your needs you can always learn how to create your own custom budget template in Excel.
4. Empower (Formerly Personal Capital) – Free App!
Empower is another great free online budgeting tool to use to track your monthly and yearly finances.
Empower is great for understanding your monthly spending, cash flow, investments, retirement, and net worth.
Out of all the budgeting apps, Empower easily takes the cake when it comes to its net worth tracker and retirement planning.
We often go into our Empower account about once a month to look at the big picture of our finances and make sure we are hitting all of our goals.
5. Mint (Free Budgeting App)
Mint is absolutely FREE and by far our favorite hands-off budgeting template.
If you want to automatically track your spending, know what your monthly cash flow is, and reach your financial goals, then Mint is the perfect budgeting solution for your budgeting needs.
It automatically suggests budgeting categories for your income and spending- and the expense categories will help you figure out where your money goes and where you should be saving.
6. Vertex42 Free Budget Spreadsheets
Vertex42 has a huge collection of budgeting templates and worksheets for you to use. The best part is they are all free!
Whether you are looking for a family budget planner, personal budget, money management system, monthly household budget, or a simple budget worksheet Vertex42 has you covered.
We love that they have so many free templates for you to download and start using. They are simple and easy to use to help you get your money under control again.
7. YNAB – (Paid App)
YNAB is one of the fastest-growing budgeting software we have ever seen. Unlike Mint, where you can set it and forget it, the budgeting system YNAB will keep you on your toes and force you to budget every single dollar.
This is really a great budgeting software that is perfect for someone that does not have a lot of self-control.
You can break down your finances over the span of multiple months, as shown above, to see how much of your money is being spent. I love the circle graph and the breakdown in percentages.
For a small fee of $6.99 per month, YNAB promises to help you take control of your finances.
8. EveryDollar (Paid App)
EveryDollar allows you to create your first budget in less than 10 minutes and easily track your spending throughout the month. EveryDollar easily has one of the best user experiences around with budgeting.
The feel is very clean, organized, and as straightforward as they come. A crucial aspect of managing your money and learning how to budget.
The mobile app is very convenient but does last some of the features that other apps have to help you better manage your money effectively.
With a huge user base, you can’t go wrong with budgeting templates on EveryDollar.
9. Mvelopes (Paid App)
If you love the concept of Dave Ramsey’s budget envelope system, then Mvelopes digital budgeting app will work great for you.
I love how you can open different “envelopes” to check on how much you have budgeted, funded, and spent. A digital take on the classic envelope system.
You should note that this budgeting app is not free, and its monthly subscription costs around $5 per month.
But the actual costs of some subscription apps can be worth it, and this one has grown a huge following.
10. Pocket Guard (Paid App)
Pocket Guard is designed to help overspenders track their spending and control their finances better.
It’s a very friendly program to use, has some unique features, the ability to link with other financial products (like Mint), and its customer service department is top-notch.
With Pocket Guard, you can easily set up budgets for different incomes and expenses or even for specific people.
You can easily create different budgets for each credit card bill, set automated reminders and payments, and see your past balances as well as pay-off date progress.
FAQS
What is a personal budget template?
A personal budget template helps you track your monthly income and expenses with accuracy- so you easily manage your money and know exactly where your money is going each month.
Budget templates can be printable, digital (budget spreadsheets), or even a simple user-friendly mobile app.
Over time your budget will show you your spending habits. This will allow you to see where you are wasting money and make a better plan for the future.
Does Google or Microsoft offer templates?
If you have Google Sheets or Microsoft Excel, yes, you can use their templates to create a budget spreadsheet.
You can check through their lists and search for budgets, and go through the options that come up.
We also have a guide for Excel budgets that you can check out!
Many templates on this list can also be used with those programs, so it’s more about which one looks the simplest or easiest for you.
I personally like having a printable budget template so that I can sit down and review my purchases and be more conscious of what I spend my money on.
But using apps like Mint alongside helps me track my money on the go so that when I’m thinking about buying something, I can see if I’d go over budget beforehand.
How does a budget template work? Is it easy for beginners?
Even if you’ve never created a budget before, a budget template outlines everything you do and goes step-by-step to get you up to speed.
Simply take your income minus your expenses to quickly see where your money is going and how much you have left each month.
You can learn all the budgeting tips and tricks you want, but the most important thing is to find an easy-to-use budgeting system that works for you.
In order to live the stress-free life that you want, you NEED to learn how to budget your money.
Should I use templates or apps to create a budget and manage my money?
This really depends on what you are the most comfortable with. You want a budgeting system that fits your personality and needs.
Budgeting can be so overwhelming and time-consuming when you are first getting started, so keeping it simple is always the best answer.
By selecting one of these best budgeting templates and apps to use, you will have far more control over your spending and entire financial future.
Is there a business budget template that I can use for my start-up?
On this list, you can use Mint and Empower with whatever accounts your business has and tailor the budget to whatever you need.
If you want step-by-step directions for a business budget, we recommend SmartSheets article, which will walk you through your budget and help you figure out the calculations easily.
Final Thoughts
Whether you are using a free printable budget template or an online personal budget app, the key is finding one you will stick with.
Budgeting is the key to reaching your money goals and, ultimately, financial freedom.
Get started budgeting with one of these many budget templates today and start creating those good money habits.
If you want easy and automatic, try Empower out, and get budgets and analytics done quickly without any effort. If you like to do it by hand, check out our free Savvy printable budget.
Get our free printable guide to quickly simplify your schedule, tame the mess, and reclaim calm, one page at a time.
Join 50,000+ moms who’ve downloaded this sanity-saving starter guide!
✅ Printable schedules, routines, planners
✅ Simple routines for busy, overwhelmed moms
I enjoy seeing in print systems I have been doing for years. My deceased husband always
teased my for “systems” but your web site proved me RIGHT. What a nice feeling.
Marge
I have been using this template fur a couple of months. I finally feel as if I manage my budget instead of in managing me. When you live on SSI with 2 kids its hard but I was able to start a savings account and money on hand for kids school things that crop up out of the blue. Thank for sharing
So happy our budget template has helped you start to manage your money better Helen. Thanks for sharing!
These budget spreadsheets have a nice balance between simplicity and usefulness, which is always welcome when it comes to managing your money.
We need help, in our 50s lots of dept
Start budgeting right away. Track every dollar. What type of debt do you have? What’s the interest rate? How much?
Listen to Dave Ramsey’s “Total Money Makeover” on YouTube. Start implementing his tactics.
I’m a faithful YNAB user but that printable from A Mom’s Take is SO GORGEOUS I wanted to use it NOW. Budgeting is often seen as negative but it has shown us what we CAN do and given us the confidence and data to take big risks.
Her printable looks amazing! Totally agree budgeting is NOT restricting but freeing.
Creating a budget is so important. I am currently trying to help some relatives with their dire financial situation and I just can’t get them to understand how life changing it could be for them. They feel like they are so strapped that it wouldn’t be worth trying to create a budget. I’m a little old school and just created a simple excel spreadsheet for myself but I may have to try one of these you’ve listed, or it might at least inspire me to pretty up my own now.
Nothing wrong with excel, it’s actually a very powerful tool!
What if you and your husband have separate bank accounts?
You can still budget together and work on big time goals. Or you can combine. Just have to figure out what works best for both of you and stick to it.
We use Excel to track our spending so we can create whatever fields we want to track. Something that has helped us a lot is tracking by Spender — each member of the family, but also our businesses. This way, we can look at a category, such as Meals, but also who it’s for (us as a family, a business expense, an individual in the family). If someone is overspending, we can easily see it. If a category is outsized, we can see that too.
Thanks for these great budget templates. I find it so interesting to see the differences and perfect for picking the right one for me and my daughter.
So happy to help Scarlet. Feel free to reach out if you need help with budgeting.
The templates help me big time on tracking and projecting my expenses. These templates are gonna be with me for a very long time. Thanks for helping me out!
So happy to help Mark!
We are struggling, my husband works and I attend college, work as well, and we have 3 kids to manage all in the mix. I feel like we are hanging on by a thread with finances and I feel so hopeless. I do all of the finances and I am spread so thin already that they have become last in the chaos of our daily lives. Our biggest problem is eating out because of cram for time! My anxiety is so high because of the uncertainty that each month brings with bills that are higher than our income coming in.… Read more »
Hey Janis,
I am so sorry you are feeling like this. We will be reaching out via email to help guide you in your current situation.
Thank you so much Kelan, that means a lot to us!
Our pleasure. We sent the email. Let us know if you did not receive it.
Are there any ones for kids? like 12-year-olds?
Thanks for posting all the spreadsheets. I really enjoy the flexibility they provide. I’ve been using the Aspire Budget Google Sheet recently and have really enjoyed it.
Budgeting can be really stressful especially if it is not done in an organized way. Those templates are very cute and lively that provides positive feelings while dealing with budgeting problems.
This looks so helpful!
Glad we could be of help =)
My partner and I were both raised in financially unstable homes and didn’t learn good money practices. Now, in our 30s, I’m in college and working two jobs, he’s working two jobs, and it still feels like a monthly struggle. I don’t think it needs to be this way! We tried YNAB, and it was a struggle for him–I think good old pen and paper will be more effective for us! I’m optimistic that your tools will get us out of the “money pit” we’re in 🙂 Thank you for the beautiful and easy-to-understand templates!
This just made my day =)