Using a simple monthly budget template is one of the easiest ways to start managing your money better.
According to Forbes, more than 78% of U.S. workers are living paycheck-to-paycheck due to not having a plan for their money.
It’s time to stop the money stress and take back control. You just need a simple budget template, tracker, or spreadsheet to help you track your money.
Luckily there are plenty of free budget templates and financial tools available for you to use.
In this article, we are going to go over the best budgeting templates and apps that you can start using today.
Table of Contents
What is a Budget Template?
A budget template helps you track your monthly income vs. your monthly expenses with accuracy. Using a budget template helps you easily manage your money and know exactly where your money is going each month.
Budget templates can be printable, digital, or even a simple user-friendly mobile app.
Over time your budget will show you your spending habits. This will allow you to see where you are wasting money and make a better plan for the future.
So, what are the best budget templates, tools, and Apps for you to use? Let’s take a closer look at our favorite options.
1. FREE Printable Monthly Budget Template
We created our FREE simple monthly budget template to be as straightforward and easy to use as possible.
Our free budget template is both printable and digital like a spreadsheet that will auto calculate for you. You can customize our template and use it for any financial situation.
We found when you are first getting started with a monthly budget nothing beats pen and paper.
Add your income at the top then subtract your fixed expenses, variable expenses, debt, and savings then watch our digital budget template auto-calculate your monthly cash flow at the bottom.
Using our budget template will allow you to have far more control over your spending and help you reach your financial goals.
You can head here to grab our FREE simple monthly budget template now.
Want to take full control of your financial future? Check out our best selling Financial Freedom Fast Track Bundle.
2. Google Sheets Budget Spreadsheet
Of course, Google never lets you down and has plenty of budget templates to choose from.
If you love looking at the numbers and tracking every last penny then a Google Sheets budget spreadsheet will be perfect for you.
This way of budgeting is more time-consuming but you have far more control over your overall finances.
Since we found most of Google Sheets budget templates to not be very visually appealing or as user-friendly as we would have liked we actually created our own.
You can grab our Google Spreadsheet Budgeting System here.
3. Microsoft Excel Budget Template
Microsoft Excel has some incredible free budget templates that you can use for free if you have Microsoft office.
Microsoft has a variety of options to fit all your budgeting needs. From personal family budgets, monthly budget templates, holiday budget templates, budget calculators, and even wedding budget trackers, they have plenty of free options to use.
If you can’t find a pre-made budget template that will fit your needs you can always create your own custom free budget template.
4. Qube Money (Free App)
We’ve talked about the free Qube money app before. If you want to take control of your finances, then this is one of the best budgeting apps out there for mobile.
Qube Money is perfect for couples and families.
With Qube, you can literally control your spending, manage your debt and stay on track with your finances while on the go.
We have found this budget template is best for those that have impulsive spending habits.
5. Mint (Free App)
Kelan and I have been using Mint to budget our money for more than a decade.
Mint is absolutely FREE and by far our favorite hands-off approach to budgeting.
If you want to automatically track your spending, know what your monthly cash flow is, and reach your financial goals then Mint is a perfect budgeting solution for your budgeting needs.
We love how user-friendly both their website and app has become over the years. You can read our full in-depth mint review here.
6. Personal Capital (Free App)
Personal Capitalis another great free online budgeting tool to use to track your monthly and yearly finances.
Personal capital is great for understanding your monthly spending, cash flow, investments, retirement, and net worth.
Out of all the budgeting apps, Personal Capital easily takes the cake when it comes to their net worth tracker and retirement planning.
We often go into our Personal Capital account about once a month to look at the big picture of our finances and make sure we are hitting all of our goals.
7. Vertex42 Free Budget Spreadsheets
Vertex42 has a huge collection of budget templates and worksheets for you to use. The best part is they are all free!
Whether you are looking for a family budget planner, personal budget, money management system, monthly household budget, or a simple budget worksheet Vertex42 has you covered.
We love that they have so many free budget templates for you to download and start using. They are simple and easy to use to help you get your money under control again.
8. YNAB – (Paid App)
YNAB is one of the fastest-growing budgeting software we have ever seen. Unlike Mint where it is a set it and forget it budgeting system YNAB will keep you on your toes and force you to budget every single dollar.
This is really a great budgeting software that is perfect for someone that does not have a lot of self-control.
You can break down your finances over the span of multiple months, as shown above, to see how much of your money is being spent. I love the circle graph and the breakdown in percents.
For a small fee of $6.99 per month, YNAB promises to help you take control of your finances.
9. EveryDollar (Paid App)
EveryDollar allows you to create your first budget in less than 10 minutes and easily track your spending throughout the month. EveryDollar easily has one of the best user experiences around when it comes to budget templates.
The feel is very clean, organized, and as straightforward as they come. A crucial aspect of managing your money and learning how to budget.
The mobile app is very convenient but does last some of the features that other apps have to help you better manage your money effectively.
With a huge user base, you can’t go wrong starting your budgeting journey with EveryDollar.
10. Mvelopes (Paid App)
If you love the concept of Dave Ramsey’s budget envelope system, then Mvelopes digital budgeting app will work great for you.
I love how you can open different “envelopes” to check on how much you have budgeted, funded, and spent. A digital take on the classic envelope system.
You should note that this budgeting app is not free and their monthly subscription costs around $5 per month.
11. Pocket Guard (Paid App)
Pocket Guard is designed to help overspenders track their spending and control their finances better.
It’s a very friendly program to use, has some unique features, the ability to link with other financial products (like Mint), and their customer service department is top-notch.
With Pocket Guard you can easily set up budgets for different expenses or even for specific people.
Instead of giving us a free version like other budget apps, they just give you the FULL version to use with no strings attached.
You can easily create different budgets for each credit card bill, set automated reminders and payments, and see your past balances as well as pay-off date progress.
How Does a Budget Template Work?
A budget template is a quick and easy way to budget your money every month.
First, start by writing down your total take-home income.
Then grab all of your monthly bills and write down where you are spending your money.
Simply take your income minus your expenses to quickly see where your money is going and how much you have left each month.
Before you get started on using any of these monthly budget templates, make sure you know why it is so important to have a budget.
You can learn all the budgeting tips and tricks you want but the most important thing is to find an easy-to-use budgeting system that works for you.
In order to live the stress-free life that you want you NEED to learn how to budget your money.
Should You Use a Budget Template or App?
This really depends on what you are the most comfortable with. You want a budgeting system that fits your personality and needs.
Budgeting can be so overwhelming and time-consuming when you are first getting started so keeping it simple is always the best answer.
By selecting one of these best budgeting templates and apps to use you will have far more control over your spending and entire financial future.
Final Thoughts
Whether you are using a free printable budget template or an online personal budget app, you can’t go wrong.
You are being purposeful with your money! At the end of the day this is all that matters because you took a first step to managing your money.
