By having your own personalized free budget spreadsheet, you can keep your personal finances organized and control your spending and debt. A well-tuned personal finance spreadsheet can help you plan your financial future. Sounds good? You’re probably wondering, “Where can I find the best budget spreadsheet?”
No worries, we’ll give you the best budget spreadsheet that’s free below:
How to use it:
Download the free spreadsheet here
- Blue text = manual entry for current/past numbers
- Green text = manual entry for future numbers
- Black text = formula-driven
- Blue fill with black type = manual entry for future numbers (budget)
To update the monthly budget sheet:
- Track your transactions manually using your bank’s online export feature or a budgeting app that allows transaction exports (e.g., YNAB, Quicken, or your bank’s CSV download option).
- Export your transactions as a .CSV file.
- Copy and paste the data into the Transactions tab of the spreadsheet.
- Update the row labels (column A) on the Monthly Budget sheet to match your personalized spending categories.
- At the end of each month, drag the formulas over your manually entered budget numbers to keep your data current.
- Award-winning budgeting app
- Helps you align spending with your priorities and break the paycheck-to-paycheck cycle
- Syncs with your bank, tracks expenses, and provides detailed reports
To update the income sheet:
- Add past income details from your saved W2s or tax documents.
- Update health insurance deductions or other relevant pre-tax contributions.
To update the asset sheet:
- Add contributions to the top section, categorized by account type (e.g., 401k, IRA, HSA).
- Enter your updated net worth balances for tracking.
- Adjust assumptions (e.g., expected return rates) in the designated cells (e.g., AP19 and AP20).
Feedback:
This spreadsheet is designed to make personal finance management easier, with most sections formula-driven for simplicity. It previously relied on exports from Mint, but with Mint no longer available, the process is now more flexible—users can adapt it to work with other budgeting tools or manual entry such as YNAB (my favorite budgeting app — get a free trial through here).
A note about taxes: The tax and Social Security (SSI) portions are subject to government policy changes. To ensure accuracy over time, you may need to update the spreadsheet with new tax rates or brackets for each year. However, these updates are typically minimal and manageable, making the spreadsheet a reliable tool for long-term financial planning.
This spreadsheet is highly adaptable, and while ongoing updates are required for future years, using inflation-adjusted estimates provides a solid baseline for planning. Great job creating a robust system for financial management!
- Award-winning budgeting app
- Helps you align spending with your priorities and break the paycheck-to-paycheck cycle
- Syncs with your bank, tracks expenses, and provides detailed reports
