How to use Budget Planner Template
A
budget is required if you want to control your spending and work toward your
financial goals. A personal or household budget is a summary that compares and
tracks your income and expenses over a set period of time, usually one month.
While the term “budget” is frequently associated with limited
spending, a budget does not have to be restrictive in order to be effective. A
budget will show you how much money you expect to bring in, then compare that
to your necessary expenses (like rent and insurance) and discretionary spending
(like entertainment or eating out). Instead of seeing a budget as a hindrance,
consider it a tool for achieving your financial objectives.
In this
workbook of Personal Budget Planner Template, there are two sheets- (1) Summary
and (2) Transactions.
(1) Summary sheet
In this sheet you will find two types of cells, one highlighted
with pink color and other are white background cells. You have to input in the
highlighted cells. Other than highlighted cells are formula cells and meant to calculate
values based on inputted data in highlighted cells and actual data come from Transaction’s
sheet.
(2) Transaction’s sheet
In this sheet, you have to input date-wise actual expenses and
income for the given month. Under the category, column click on the drop-down list,
where you will find different categories of expenses and income.
Expense sheet categories
Home, Food, Gifts, Health/Medical, Transportation, Personal, Pets, Utilities, Travel, Debt, Other, Custom category 1, Custom category 2, Custom category 3
Income sheet categories
Salary, Savings, Bonus, Interest, Other, Custom Category
This is a two-step activity,
Step -1
The first step in creating a budget in budget planner template is determining how much money you have coming in. You are not required to
calculate your net income/salary if your employer pays after deducting
government taxes and/or social security payments. However, if you are
self-employed, you must deduct taxes and other expenses. Net income is your
final take-home pay, and it is the figure you should use when creating a
budget. If you work freelance or part-time in addition to your regular job, you
must estimate your net income from these sources. Begin by making a list of all
of your fixed expenses. These are regular monthly bills such as rent or
mortgage (monthly repayments on a house loan), utilities (electricity bill, gas
bill, etc.), or car payments (if taken car loan from a bank). It’s unlikely
that you’ll be able to reduce these but knowing how much of your monthly income
they consume can be useful. Access your monthly grocery, travel, and
entertainment expenses, school fees for school-aged children, and daily pocket
money for children. Medical expenses such as medications and doctor/hospital
fees are anticipated.
Fill the planned expenses and income for the month. In the template
there are hypothetical expenses and income items that are filled against each category which can be replaced by easily by your numbers.
Step – 2
Click on the Transactions sheet and input your actual expenses and
income for the month by replacing the hypothetical numbers inputted in the
cells.
Results & Conclusion
In the Summary sheet, the expected planned savings (based on hypothetical
income/expenses) is 845 (3,150 – 2,305). Whereas actual savings is 430 (3,300 –
2,870).
This shows actual savings are less than the planned savings, which indicates
either you overestimate income projections or underestimates expenses. It will
be a good starting point to reconsider estimates for the coming months.