This free family budget planner is based on the spreadsheet that I use for my own finances. It was very useful for handling major life events such as transition from student – to married student – to intern – to employee – to home owner. With careful budget planning, we were able to make ends meet so that by the time we wanted to buy a house, we knew exactly what we could afford.
This spreadsheet has been used by hundreds of thousands of people and remains one of my most popular budgeting tools. However, many people may not realize that I have created a few other variations recently. You might want to check out the Money Manager template or yearly Budget Calculator. Both of these provide additional features that the basic planner does not have.
If you are new to Excel or new to budgeting, or both, take a look at the video demo below. It will show you how to get started, how to customize your budget categories, how to enter budget amounts for each month, and how to tell whether you are under or over budget each month.
This free family budget planner worksheet will help you create a yearly budget by entering amounts based on the month in which expenses are incurred.
By creating a yearly budget, you can more easily predict how major life changes will affect your finances. For example, if you are changing jobs, you can use the planner to estimate whether the increase (or decrease) in pay will still allow you to make ends meet.
If you are moving or buying a home, you can analyze your budget to see where you may need to cut back to be able to afford an increase in rent or a higher mortgage. Watch the video for an example.
New in Version 2.0: The new graphs show your spending and savings balance over time. Percentages below the category totals show you what percent of the total family budget is going to that category. The help worksheet is much more detailed now.
