Many people forgo using budgeting software and prepare household budgets on paper. Others create printable budget forms or download budget planning forms.
Creating a household budget on paper won't provide graphical budget reports found in budgeting or personal finance software, but creating a budget on paper has the advantage of being always available, not just when the computer is on.
Budgeting on Paper
To create a budget form with pen and paper or a word processor, you need to decide if you will budget the same amount for expenses and income for each month, or if you will be budgeting fluctuating amounts across the year. The method you decide on dictates the number of columns you will need in your budget form.
Setting up a budget on paper can be as simple as using your writing instrument of choice and a ruler to draw rows and columns. The advantage of this system is that it is portable and always available. The disadvantage is that as you tweak your budget or find new categories you need to budget for, you will need to rewrite parts of the budget or redo it entirely.
If you budget the same amount each month, draw two columns on paper, one for income and expense categories (paycheck, groceries, utilities) and one for the monthly budgeted amount for each category. If you are budgeting income or expenses will fluctuate monthly, you need a column for the budgeted categories and twelve columns to hold monthly amounts.
Add up total expenses and income in a total row at the bottom of the budgeted amounts column. If you are budgeting for all twelve months, total each month individually. The total expense rows need to be compared to total income to be sure you are not over-budgeted.
Budget Form Print Outs
Printing out a blank budget form from a web site or word processing software provides a neat format for recording budget data. This is a good solution for those who want to create their budget by hand but don't want to have to redraw lines for columns and rows when the budget changes.
As with a completely hand-written budget, you need to decide if you will budget the same amount for expenses and income for each month, or if you will be budgeting fluctuating amounts across the year. If you go with a static budget amount month after month, you only require two columns - one for the budgeted category and one for the amount budgeted. Budgeting different monthly amounts calls for a category column and a column for each month in a year. Be sure to include a total row beneath the budgeted amounts so you can see if total expenses surpass total income.
Free Budget Planning Printables
Using Tables in Microsoft Word: Tips on using the Tables feature in Microsoft Word to create your budget form.
These free printable budget planning forms require the free Adobe Reader
To use forms for tracking your monthly spending after you create your budget: print out the form, fill in budgeted amounts that will not change and then make photocopies to avoid recording budgeted amounts each month.
- Use Balance Pro's complete budget form with a personal financial analysis with the 8-page Money Management Planner to break down current spending, planned budget and changes in spending needed to reach budgeted amounts. Includes weekly and monthly expense records.
- Detailed Budget Worksheet from Freddie Mac includes lines for brief notes.
- Monthly Budget Worksheet from www.SocialServe.com includes a Monthly Spending Summary on the last page, with a spot to record surplus or shortfall.
- Less detailed and very colorful Simple Monthly Budget worksheet from www.aba.com.
