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A Really Simple Budget Worksheet

By David Weliver

Budgeting is a lot like exercising. Some people love to do it; the rest of us know we need to do it but we really hate it! To help, I give you Money Under 30’s Really Simple Budget Worksheet.

Some exercise is better than none. And creating a really simple budget is definitely better than not budgeting at all. Whether you are just learning to budget or you don’t need or want all the bells and whistles of fancy software or online budgeting tools, I give you my Really Simple Budget Worksheet.

What is the Really Simple Budget Worksheet?

The Really Simple Budget Worksheet is a one page form that asks for your monthly income and monthly expenses grouped into just a handful of categories. Unlike some budget tools, this worksheet doesn’t need to know how much you spend on coffee in the morning, beers at the bar, fast food lunches and fine dining. It groups them as dining, travel and entertainment.

Although there is some value in seeing how much your coffee or lunch habits add up to every month, it takes a lot of time to track—time most of us would rather spend in other ways. The Really Simple Budget Worksheet lets you figure out a budget in a few minutes and get on with life.

The worksheet is available as a PDF (for printing) and Microsoft Excel:

More Budgeting Options

This simple budget might be the perfect introduction to budgeting for some, but might not be enough for everybody. Check out my original free budget spreadsheet, my list of free and premium online budgeting tools, or J. Money’s roundup of the best free budget templates from around the Web.

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Published on September 11th, 2009.

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2 Response(s)

  1. Kerri

    I’d like to suggest a new site that just launched, http://www.debtspark.com, which serves as a step one for figuring out your financial picture. It’s simpler than a spreadsheet and allows users to store, track and graph deficits or surpluses over time.

    5 October 2009 at 5:41 pm permalink Reply
  2. J. Money

    Thanks for spreading the financial love my good friend! Recently updated the “best spreadsheets of the web” list and both your budgets are highlighted :)

    Love your simple one – great way to get the ball rolling w/out digging into hardcore details.

    31 January 2010 at 11:07 am permalink Reply

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