Free zero-based budget spreadsheet
Give every dollar a job. Type in your income and categories, log spending, and the totals add up for you.
Download
Free to use and change for your own work. No email or sign-up needed.
What’s inside
- Budget tab. Your income for the month, a big Ready to Assign number, and categories grouped into Monthly bills, Everyday, Savings goals and Debt. For each category you type what you assign, and the sheet shows what you’ve spent and what’s available. Overspent categories turn red.
- Transactions tab. Date, payee, category (picked from a list), amount and notes. Every row counts toward the Budget tab automatically.
- How to use tab. The steps below, in case you forget.
How to use it
- Type the month and the money coming in.
- Rename or add categories to fit your life.
- Assign money to each category until Ready to Assign reads $0. Savings and debt payments count as jobs.
- Log spending on the Transactions tab as negative numbers.
- When a category goes red, move money from another one to cover it.
That’s zero-based budgeting in five steps. If your income changes month to month, read Budgeting on an uneven income.
When a spreadsheet stops being enough
Spreadsheets are great until you’re typing in every coffee by hand. Kibble runs the same zero-based budget on your Windows PC, finds transactions in your Gmail for you to approve, and can fill a month from your last three. It’s free during early access. See Kibble vs budget spreadsheets.
Questions people ask
Does it work in Google Sheets?
Yes. Upload the Excel file to Google Drive and open it with Google Sheets. The formulas and category list carry over.
How do I start a new month?
Save a copy of the file, or duplicate the Budget tab, then type the new month's income and assign it again.
Why is spending a negative number?
So money in and money out live in one column, like a bank statement. The Budget tab flips it for you, so Spent shows as a positive amount.
Still scratching your head?
Send us a note and a real person will get back to you.