Free printable monthly budget template

Monthly budget template to print

Choose one person or two, then press Print. Your browser will print the sheet and leave out the rest of the page. If the sheet runs onto a second page, turn off headers and footers in the print window.

How to fill in the monthly budget

The CFPB lays out how to make a budget in a few steps. Here they are, pointed at this sheet.

1. Where does the money come from? The CFPB says to record every source of income, including self-employment, more than one job, child support and government benefits. Put each in the income rows.
2. Where does it go? The CFPB says to log your spending over a typical month, sorted by category, and to include the small everyday purchases. Your bank and card statements are the quickest place to find it.
3. What are the bills and when are they due? The CFPB says to compare bill due dates with when you get paid, to find shortfalls. Put each bill in its category.
4. Combine them into one working budget. Write the planned column from the three steps above.

The difference column is yours to define. We suggest planned minus actual, so a positive number means you spent less than you planned.

Simple home budget template: the categories

The rows are the ones in our budget categories list: eight needs, eight wants and five kinds of saving. That is 21 lines. It is enough to see where the money goes without a sheet nobody fills in. If one line keeps hiding something, split it in the margin. If you never use a line, cross it out.

Costs that do not come every month, like car insurance paid twice a year, belong in the saving rows as sinking funds. Divide the yearly cost by 12 and plan that amount each month. See sinking funds.

Household budget worksheet for two: yours, mine, ours

The second version has three pairs of columns. Put what only one of you pays in your own column, and what you pay together in Ours. That keeps a shared budget from turning into a score of who spent what.

Then you decide how to cover Ours. Some couples split it evenly, some by what each earns. The fair split calculator shows both, and splitting bills by income explains the idea.

Sticking with it

The CFPB's tips for keeping a budget going are short. Make a way of tracking that works for you. Look at your spending habits for places to cut back, and plan around impulse purchases. Set a goal and reward yourself for progress. Lean on someone you trust for help or encouragement. For a couple, that last one can be each other.

A paper sheet takes an evening a month. If that becomes the hard part, Wonderful sorts every charge from your bank for you and gives every paycheck a plan.