The Best Blank Budget Worksheet Printable
The budget printable is one of the most popular ways to manage your finances on a month-to-month basis. If you’re looking to download the best blank budget worksheet printable, you’ve come to the right place. Keep reading to download your budget worksheet and learn more about which one might be the best type for you.
Download Your Budget Worksheet Now!
What is a Budget Worksheet Printable?
The simplest definition of the budget printable is a printed document that you can use to keep track of your income, expenses, and cashflow; typically on a monthly basis. The main difference between a printable and a spreadsheet for budgeting is that these are done manually. So don’t forget to pull out your adding machine when you use it!
In addition to just one month of tracking your income and expenses, this budget worksheet printable set comes with a few other useful printables, all described in detail later in this post.
If you want to start using the printable right away, access the budget spreadsheet below. For instructions on how to use it best, please keep reading!
How to Use the Budget Printable
This budget printable set is built into excel and can also be accessed via Google Sheets. This provides you with the option to tailor as you see fit before printing.
To print, just print as usual – the print area is already set! It will print out on one page and you can fill out by hand at that point.
RELATED POST: Get Your Finances Organized Today!
What should be included in your budget?
At the simplest level, there are a few key categories that you should track in your budget printable (and any budget for that matter):
Income
Track all of the money that comes into your pocket on a monthly basis. In addition to your regular paycheck, this should also include dividends, gifts, interest, and any other miscellaneous money that comes your way.
Expenses
Next you should track your expenses. This is THE most important part of budgeting. If your expenses are out of control, then the rest of your finances will be, too.
Savings
It’s best practice to add savings as a line item in your budget. This is where you pay yourself – one of the principles of the Zero-Based Budget. Doing this will make sure you prioritize savings and stick to saving on a monthly basis.
Debt
Now, I’ll caveat – debt should be one of the expenses listed in your budget. But I’ve called it out separately here as debt is just such a huge part of the American experience (unfortunately). Don’t forget to track it and make a plan for paying it off in the future.
One thing to note is that the Budget Printable provided on this page is based on the 50/30/20 budget principle. The key benefit of this budgeting method is that it simplifies budgeting expense categories into three buckets: (1) Needs, (2) Wants, and (3) Wealth Building.
Types of Free Budget Printables
There are several types of free budget printables available, and many of them overlap in purpose, as you’ll see below:
Daily – This type of budget printable can be used to track your finances on a daily basis. I think this is the least effective / most cumbersome way to keep track of your money; the ONLY people it may be effective for is those who have extreme spending problems and need a wake up call. In that situation, this may work for a temporary period of time.
Weekly – A weekly budget printable allows you to track your money week to week. This can be quite effective, particularly for those of you who prefer to budget by paycheck.
Monthly – This is the standard budget printable (and the one that I provide to you). Keep track of everything month-to-month and easily pivot to improve your finances in the next month. This is the type of budget printable that will work for most.
Yearly – A yearly budget printable should be used more for annual planning than anything else. Set an objective for your money at the start of the year, then when the year wraps, go back and see how you did against your budget.
Household – The only difference between a household budget than a more standard budget printable is that it typically accounts for multiple earners (partners); most budget printables allow room to be used as Household budgets as well
Single Person – This is your typical budget printable – meant to be used for a single person (or in a household with just one earner).
Gift – Are you the type of person that is the first to buy gifts for all those special people in your life? If so, it probably makes sense to set aside a gift budget. You can use a special budget printable to keep track of your gift expenditures over the course of the year.
Special Events (Vacation, Weddings, Etc.) – Very similar to the gift budget, if you have a special event coming up, it’s good practice to have a specific budget for the event in question so that you don’t overspend.
RELATED POST: How to Save More Money Each Month
The Best Free Blank Budget Worksheet Printable
Now that you know more about budget printables in general, let me introduce you to the Ultimate Budget Worksheet Printable Set!
In this set, which you can download 100% for free (!), you get the following:
- Monthly Budget Tracker (Household or Single): This budget tracker is based on the 50/30/20 Budgeting Method, and can be modified to suit your needs
- Detailed Expense Tracker: Track all of your expenses in one place so that it’s easier to simply add everything at the end of the month and document on your monthly budget worksheet
- Bill Tracker: Track each of your bills and their due dates so that you never miss another payment!
- Annual Budget Printable: As described in the prior section, the annual budget printable should be used to plan your income / expenses at a high-level for the duration of the year.
- Financial Goal Planner: Write down your goals for the next year, 5 years, and 10-years!
The great thing about this collection of printables is that you can continue to print them over and over again! Once you print out everything, you can easily print and put it all into a binder and organize by month.
Also, as mentioned at the start of this post, you get the file as an editable Excel (or Google) Worksheet, so you can edit the categories to your liking.
(And as a friendly reminder, don’t worry the print instructions are all there for you. You won’t have any issues printing!)
Get the printables straight to your inbox by using the sign-up box below:
Downsides of Using a Budget Printable
Potential to Miscalculate
The key component of the budget printable is that you calculate your expenses manually. The challenge with this is that human error is pretty much a given. I do recommend that you consider a budget spreadsheet instead, as the results are more reliable.
More Time-Consuming
Unlike budget spreadsheets, working on a budget printable is much more time-consuming, as all the calculations are done automatically for you. Also, you’ll likely need to spend more time on the printable on a daily/weekly basis to stay on top of all of your expenses. Unless you are a very light spender.
The Need to Print
Finally, you actually have to print the printable. So if “being green” is a concern, it’s a bit more difficult to keep green, if you will. Also, you’ll have to get folders / binders together and figure out storage as well.
In Summary | The Best Blank Budget Worksheet Printable
The blank budget worksheet is a good way to get started with getting your finances organized. While there are downsides to using this method vs. using an automated spreadsheet, for example. But anything that helps you build your financial plan can be a game changer in your life. If you use the printables and find them helpful, let me know in the comments below!
If you’d like more ideas for budget printables, check out this list!
