Free Microsoft Excel Personal Budget Spreadsheet
Download a Household Budgeting Template to Track Income and Expenses
May 19, 2009
The most popular monthly personal budget spreadsheet template available on the Microsoft Office website is a worksheet that can be opened with Excel 97 or later versions. The file is 37 KB and has been downloaded more than 2.5 million times from the Microsoft Office website.
Free Microsoft Excel Personal Budget Spreadsheet Tracks Income and Expenses
This budget template has an attractive layout that incorporates shades of blue for the background accented with white and black text in easy-to-read Tahoma font. This free personal budget spreadsheet template was created to track monthly household expenses (January through December); it allows the user to obtain a realistic picture of actual surpluses or deficits available at the end of each month because it compares total income to total expenses.
The Microsoft Excel spreadsheet is separated into two main sections- income and expenses. The expenses portion is broken down into eleven second-tier categories. Because the spreadsheet is not locked, users can take what is provided and customize as necessary for their own purposes. For instance, the income section is rather minimal; only wages, interest & dividends, and miscellaneous income are separately stated. If those three lines don’t capture every source of a family’s income, more lines can be added to customize this section.
Download a Household Budgeting Template- Monthly Budget Categories Defined
The expense portion of this household budgeting template is broken down into the following categories (to be captured monthly):
- Home- This section captures expenses such as mortgage payments or rent, utility payments, telephone costs (land line or mobile), home security system, home repairs and improvements, and gardening supplies.
- Daily Living- A rather broad category, this captures groceries, child care, dry cleaning, eating out, house cleaning, and dog walking expenses.
- Transportation- Expenses related to automobile transportation are captured in this category. This includes fuel, vehicle insurance, repairs, cleaning, parking, or the cost of public transportation in the absence of a personal vehicle.
- Entertainment- The spreadsheet defines entertainment as television, movie rentals, certain club memberships, and tickets to concerts, plays, or movies.
- Health- Health club dues (arguably, these are the same as gym membership fees in the recreation category below), health insurance and drug costs, life insurance, and vet costs for pets go into this category.
- Vacations- Everything related to vacationing goes in this category. This includes airfare, lodging, food, souvenirs, pet lodging, and car rental expenditures solely attributable to getting away.
- Recreation- Gym fees, sports equipment, team dues, fitness gear or even toys fall into this category.
- Dues / Subscriptions- This category captures any magazine or newspaper type subscriptions plus donations to charity or church.
- Personal- Clothing, gifts, hair cuts, books, and music are considered personal expenses.
- Financial Obligations- This section captures any obligations, mandatory or otherwise, including monthly savings deposits, retirement contributions, credit card & income tax payments.
- Miscellaneous Payments- Five customizable lines serve as a catch-all for everything that doesn’t fit neatly within any other categories.
At the very bottom of the spreadsheet, total income is compared to total expenses to come up with monthly cash short or extra. Any deficit will be indicated by red text and parenthesis to denote a negative amount. To download this budget spreadsheet template, go to the link above, then click on “download.”
Where to Get More Budget Spreadsheet Templates
If the free household budgeting template above doesn’t quite match up with your family's particular situation, consider using it as a starting point and customizing it as necessary. Alternatively, consider finding another Excel personal budget spreadsheet on the Microsoft Office website or making one completely from scratch.
Here is a related article to help with creating a personal budget from scratch:
Personal Budget Income Categories for Excel- suggested monthly budget categories for tracking income in Excel.
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