2024 Best Budgeting Template Spreadsheets, Tools, Apps (expert picks) (2024)

Conscious spending is a great way to enjoy life while still building a financially secure future. However, it requires organization. You need to start with a bullet-proof budget, categorizing all of your expenses into one of these four buckets:

• Fixed costs
• Investments
• Savings
• Guilt-free spending

From there, you’ll need to decide how much money to allocate to each bucket. The hardest part, is sticking to your plan.

Budgeting spreadsheets and tools are great resources that will increase your chances of success. Simple spreadsheets help map out your plan, and budgeting apps help you stick to it.

The entire point of these tools is to simplify money management so you can think about your money less, not more.

For many people, budgeting and planning for big expenses like vacations are a struggle. But it doesn’t have to be! I spoke with a couple in episode 114 of my podcast who overspent on holidays because their earnings combined were a lot. But without planning for expenses, a big income can lead to big debt.

The thought of creating a budget spreadsheet can be intimidating. Does this mean you need to master complex financial formulas? Not at all. With a variety of monthly budget templates available, you can find pre-made options for different needs, from personal family budgets to vacation planning.

When it comes to budget templates, it’s best to keep them simple, and there are many user-friendly tools available to save you time and stress. A personal budget template in Microsoft Excel can be particularly helpful for tracking monthly income and expenses, enabling better financial management and planning. Here are some of the easiest:

Microsoft Excel isn’t all about complex formulas. Thesefree budget templatesare an easy way to get an overview of your cash flow (monthly expenses versus monthly income). There are even specialty templates, such as apersonal monthly budget, acollege budget, ahome construction budget, and anevent planning budget.

Additionally, Excel offers ‘family budget planner’ templates, ideal for managing household expenses, including children’s education, extracurricular activities, savings, and vacations.

Firstly, before downloading another app, consider taking advantage of your bank’s features, including apps that connect to your checking account and credit card to effortlessly monitor expenses. Most bank apps have automation features which you can set up to automate your transactions.

You likely have somefinancial goalsin your life, whether it’s improving your net worth, paying off your college student loans, or achievingFIRE (financial independence, retire early). You might also have smaller, more short-term goals, likesaving for your dream weddingorbuying a luxury car.Smart money management can help you achieve those objectives.

Many people assume that effective money management means scrounging, saving, and never enjoying life. The truth is that living a life of constantly telling yourself “no” isn’t sustainable (or enjoyable). Instead, consider trying aconscious spending plan.Following this logic, you categorize your expenses into essential fixed costs, important investments, savings goals, and—last but not least—guilt-free spending.

By allocating space in your budget for the fun stuff (minus the guilt), you’re more likely to stick to that budget in the first place. By honing in onyour Money Dials—the things you really love to spend on—you can prioritize your spending in a way that makes sense for you. Money Dials could include things like fitness, convenience, luxury items,travel,self-improvement,and social status.

Watch this video where I guide you through my 10 Money Rules, a set of simple principles that have helped me build wealth and can do the same for you:

You don’t have to be a personal finance guru or a professional budget planner to create a workable household budget. The above spreadsheets and tools make it easier to take control of your finances and implement conscious spending habits that work for you.

They doesn’t have to be perfect. Remember, theaim of money management is to create a simple budget that works for you and then automate as much as you can of your money management, from auto-paying bills to setting upautomatic deposits for investmentsand savings, to those tools.

This will ultimately help you think less (and stress less) about money, so you can live the“I Will Teach You to Be Rich”philosophy: “A rich life is lived outside the spreadsheet.”