In our Ultimate Budget Planner and Spreadsheet Guide, you will learn:
In this ultimate Budget Planner Guide, we’re going to take you through the budgeting
process step by step, and show you how budgeting can be the best decision you’ll ever make
for your financial future. If you’d like to learn how to start saving money and achieve financial goals
you never thought possible, this guide is for you.
A budget plan is an accounting tool which lets you easily track your income and
expenditure. A budget plan is a crucial part of an effective financial plan, and can be
created to track short, medium, or long-term financial goals. You can use a budget plan to save
money, pay off debt, or assess long-term goals such as purchasing a home.
A budget plan can
initially seem daunting - if you haven’t created a budget plan before, seeing your income and
expenses realistically displayed in a spreadsheet can be quite a shock. However, an honest budget
plan will be the best way to see how much money you have coming in and going out each week,
fortnight, month or year - and help you take complete control of your finances.
Having a budget that details your income and expenditure will help you to maintain control of your finances and, if necessary, illustrate the problems you may be having with your creditors. It’s true that your debt problems won’t be solved by the fact that you have a budget alone. But beginning with this basic information about the reality of your current situation is essential.
Having a budget that details your income and expenditure will help you to maintain control of your finances and, if necessary, illustrate the problems you may be having with your creditors. It’s true that your debt problems won’t be solved by the fact that you have a budget alone. But beginning with this basic information about the reality of your current situation is essential.
How much money you make. Often referred to as ‘incoming money’.
How much money you spend. Often referred to as ‘outgoing money’.
How much money you owe and how much interest it is costing.
What you would like to achieve and when you would like to achieve it.
This is how much money you make. Often referred to as
‘incoming money’ – your earnings should outline every known source of income you have,
not just your regular salary.
Your earnings should list:
The important task when calculating your total earnings is to be exhaustive -
cover as much as you possibly can - as you’ll be doing the same with the next, crucial
section: expenses.
If you need assistance, you can use the free Money.com.au Pay
Calculator to quickly calculate your take-home pay for easy weekly budgeting.
This is how much money you spend. Assess your expenses by consulting your bank statements, receipts, and financial files. Some expenses are intermittent, such as insurance payments, so to get the most accurate financial picture you can calculate an average for six months to a year.
Add up everything you spent for the last six to 12 months and then divide by the amount of months, which will give you your average monthly expenses.
Remember that being thorough when you add up expenses is important in
creating a realistic budget. A forgotten bill really throws a wrench into your
savings plan. When calculating your expenses, also factor in unexpected bills, such
as unplanned car repairs.
A good rule of thumb is to add an extra 10 per cent to 15 per cent. For
example:
Listing your expenses quickly helps you establish whether you have enough money coming in to cover these. There are also two types of expenses: Fixed and Variable.
Tracking your expenses is the most important part of any budget spreadsheet.
Here are some tips to accurately gather your existing expenses to document in your budget:
Following these tips will help you document all of your expenses for your
budget spreadsheet. It will also help you identify spending patterns and behaviours
that could be better managed to save money. These spending patterns and behaviours
can be called ‘spending leaks’ - we’re going to change your mindset to look at these
instead as ‘opportunities to save’.
You should now have a complete list of
your income and expenses, which we’ll use to fill in the spreadsheet in the creating
your budget section.
This is how much money you
owe. To ensure your budget is effective, you need to know where
it is you owe money and, importantly, how much
your debts are costing you in interest. One of the most popular
reasons people decide to start a budget is to assess their current level of
debt and find a proactive solution to paying it off early.
As you
start to list your debts, consider:
Taking the time to list each of your debts will give you mental
clarity on how much you owe and the rate of interest associated with each
debt - particularly useful in prioritising
which debts to pay off first. You can also use this method to
create goals - you could even find ways to pay
your debts earlier than you’d have thought possible!
This is what you want to
achieve and when. Financial goals may not seem like a
vital part of the budgeting process, but listing your budgeting
goals will keep you motivated.
If your budget spreadsheet tracks your goals clearly, you are
constantly reminded of why you are budgeting in the first place.
Even
if your goal is just to get better control of your finances and save
a little extra each week or month, any sort of budgeting goal will
keep you on track.
Looking to deposit some money into a
savings account to earn compound interest and grow your savings? Our
free
Compound
Interest Calculator can be used to help you plan your
long-term financial goals.
Questions to ask yourself when
writing goals:
Whatever the reason, be clear when writing your budget
goals. List the goal, the due date and implement a plan to start
reaching your goal – step by step. Remember that a budget
spreadsheet is there to help you achieve
your end goals, so be sure to list them.
Saving money without a goal is fine, though a well-defined goal can go a long way toward keeping the motivation.
At Money.com.au, our
goal in offering a free budget planner spreadsheet is
to give everyone in Australia the opportunity to find ways to save
money, set realistic goals, and then build them into a budget to
show how they can be achieved.
At Money.com.au, our
goal in offering a free budget planner
spreadsheet is to give everyone in Australia the opportunity
to find ways to save money, set realistic goals, and then
build them into a budget to show how they can be
achieved.
The secret to setting
up an easy and effective budget is to set
yourself long-term goals and use short-term strategies and
goals to get there. This will be the basis of setting up
your first successful budget.
Learning how to set up
a budget should be easy, fun and empowering, so if you’re
feeling as though tracking your finances is a struggle, or
you’re concerned about not being able to save as much as
you’d like to, then take your time to carefully read through
this guide.
Are you paying too much tax? If so, you could be due a tax refund at the end of the financial year. To see how much you could qualify for, use our Tax Return Estimate tool.
Before we begin, make sure you have an accurate listing of:
Now let’s look at how you’ll go about setting up your budget. We’ll
discuss each of these in more detail below, and you can click any of the steps on the right to
automatically take you to the desired section. We’ll use the notes made from the previous section to
fill out the appropriate sections of the spreadsheet with your budget information.
We’re
going to use this information to fill out the various pages on the Money.com.au Budget Spreadsheet
Template. If you haven’t downloaded the spreadsheet, you can do so here. You can refer to Getting
Started tab of the Budget Template for a quick guide on each section.
You can use this guide alongside our budget spreadsheet and tips to start your brand-new budget and create a pathway to financial security and happiness.
First, enter the amount of money you make each month - remember to take into account
your tax rates and the amount of money you have in hand after tax as we want figures that are
raw and accurate as possible to assess your actual in-hand pay.
Once
you’ve figured out how much money you need to stay afloat financially each month, it’s time to
determine your actual income. Besides your regular salary, get an accurate picture by adding in
any extra funds that come your way throughout the year, such as cash gifts, sale of items online
or via garage sales, and don’t forget other income sources like alimony, child support,
interest, dividends and rental income.
Remember to include all your secondary income. Whether it be interest payments on your savings or odd jobs you do locally – remember to include them all in your income list.
Now we’re going to list your expenses. To make this easier, we’ll
first list all your fixed expenses; these will give you a clear overview of
your expenditure commitments, and getting these out of the way first will allow you to carefully
consider your variable expenses below.
The Expenses Section of the Budget Template is
separated into six individual sections, so you can clearly see which areas of your spending are
costing you the most:
You can also include your savings account in this list, so that you start to see your savings as another bill to help you reach your goal quicker.
Once you’ve filled in your fixed expenses, repeat the process for your variable
expenses. Variable expenses are items that you spend money on each month that do
not have a set value. This can include groceries, eating dinner at a restaurant, buying clothes
and going to the movies. These items are variable because they allow you to cut back on
them if you wish and are not critical to your monthly budgeting.
The reason
we need to list these items is that one of the keys to a successful budget is to factor in some
spending on variable expenses so that you don’t lose motivation. If you need help finding your
variable expenses, print out three months of your everyday accounts transaction history – this
can help you form the basis of where you spend your money on non-essentials.
Congratulations! The hardest part of the setup process is
over, so give yourself a pat on the back. Although it’s not directly connected with
figures and accounting, staying positive and reminding yourself that you’re doing
something proactive in creating a budget is something to be proud of - not everyone is
comfortable taking this first, important step!
Now, let’s look at creating what
we call ‘zero-dollar budgeting’. This is where we look at the expenses
and income together, and find a way to match every dollar you earn to an assigned part
of your budget.
Every dollar should be accounted for, whether it be for
entertainment or savings – you will want to assign a dollar value to every element of
your life - the more concise, the better. By seeing how much money is coming in versus
how much money is going out, you should start seeing where your money goes and how you
can make small changes.
Seemingly insignificant items such as a cup of coffee add up over time. For instance, even if you spend just $5 a week on snacks, that adds up to $260 a year, which is not insignificant!
If you find that you cannot match your numbers, you may need to start looking
at ways to tweak your budget. Your variable expenses should naturally
be the first items to be reduced. Should you find yourself with money left over at the
end of the month, you deserve another congratulations! Put the money into your nest egg
account and enjoy the fact that you are one of the few people in Australia who manage to
not waste their entire paycheck per month.
If you were to find yourself not able
to reduce your variable expenses any further, you may need to look at fixed
expenses and your options for lowering them. This can be done through
refinancing a mortgage, cutting back on extras like Pay-TV and other bills.
Now that you’ve filled in the crucial aspects of your budget, and ideally refined your
personal budget spreadsheet into a zero-dollar budget, you can start to look at how you’ll track
your monthly expenses.
Sections three and four of the Money.com.au Budget Spreadsheet
are Tracking and Visual Summary. We’ve used this format
because we know everyone is different - some people find it easier to look at numbers, and some
people prefer to see their finances represented visually. Whichever option works for you, that’s
the one you’ll find most beneficial to continuing your savings goals.
You can also keep a spending journal or diary, these are amazing at helping you acknowledge just how much money you spend and where it ends up.
Now that we’re tracking our expenses, it’s time to set some Savings
Goals. You can use the Time Target Tool to view your savings
targets, or the Monthly Savings Tool to see how much you’ll need to save each
month to reach new savings goals.
In order to determine realistic savings and debt
payoff goals, subtract your monthly expenses from your income:
Once you have a clear picture of where all of your money goes, be merciless in cutting
expenses until your budget is in the black:
By now, you should have an ultra-clear and realistic overview of your
finances. You have successfully filled in the budget spreadsheet, and you now have
a personal budget of your very own. The next step is almost entirely in your hands: Monitoring
your budget and adjusting as you move toward reaching your goals.
These last two steps in creating a budget are dedicated to monitoring and upkeep.
We’ve included them in the budgeting guide because they’re just as important as the initial
few steps; it’s important to prepare and understand how to adjust your budget to remain
motivated even when unexpected things happen.
For example:
Whatever happens, just remember to add it into your expenses and reassess how you
can continue to stick to your budget. Remove things from your variable category for that
month so that the money is shifted directly into your emergency requirement.
Events
such as a change in your income or accommodation arrangements, a new addition to the family
or consolidating your loans all impact on your finances. Your budget will need to change in
order to accommodate them, just remember to face any changes with confidence and not bury
your head in the sand!
Ready to begin saving money in a way that can completely change your life and how you
view finances? Here’s your first short-term goal: Follow your newly created
budget for exactly one month. At the end of the first month, evaluate how you went with your
budget.
Ask yourself the following questions:
Budgeting is the key to saving money. It’s the tool that keeps you honest in your
money-saving endeavours; it clearly outlines how much you spend versus how much you earn and
quickly helps you keep track of your personal finances with an aim to improve them.
Throughout
this first month, you’ll conduct a number of Budget Reviews.
It’s
important you review your budget plan regularly, as this will help you make sure you’re sticking
to your savings or debt recovery plan and enable you to identify when your budget is no longer
meeting your needs.
One of the hardest things to do is stick to your budget. People often find a burst of
inspiration to create a budget spreadsheet, only to never look at it again.
To create a
successful budget, you must keep it current and actively refer to it. To keep your budget
spreadsheet current, review and update it at least once a week. This means checking in on your
spending and always updating your fixed expenses as they increase or decrease.
The
moment you cancel say a Netflix subscription, update your budget spreadsheet.
The moment your insurance premium increase, update your budget spreadsheet.
Over
time you will become confident you are adhering to your budget. As your confidence grows, you
will likely only need to refer to your budget each time you get paid!
So far we have covered the critical components that make up a good budget, and you’ll have
likely created your own personal budget spreadsheet. However, in the spirit of being completely
fair, we’re going to look at how various methods for creating and tracking a budget compare against
each other.
Although we believe the Budget Spreadsheet is the most accurate and
easy-to-use budgeting tool available, the best budget tool is the one that works for
you and helps you save. Here are the pros and cons of each budgeting method.
We’ve created the Money.com.au Budget Spreadsheet to be the ultimate budget planner. Our free excel budget planner template:
Tracks income from multiple sources, at varying frequencies
Tracks every last expense - even the little ones you may miss!
Offers ‘simple’ and ‘advanced’ budget options (be as quick or detailed as you
want)
Has unlimited expense categories and suggests ones you are likely to have
Comes with 3 x bonus tools to estimate your savings, figure out
how much you need to save and create schedules
Creates beautiful graphs to motivate you to meet your goals and continue saving
Helps forecast spending and identifying ways to reduce it
Is 100 per cent FREE to download and use forever
Why is such an amazing tool free to use? Because we
don’t believe it’s fair to charge you money when you are already trying to show commitment to saving
and making a positive change in your finances.
No. You will never have to pay a single cent to use our spreadsheet. We know we could charge for this valuable tool, but we’re committed to helping everyday Australians take control of their finances. We believe our Money.com.au Budget Planner Spreadsheet can truly change the way you view your finances, and your dedication to making this future a reality is the only investment you ever need to make.
A budget planner is a way to track your income and expenses. Creating a budget plan allows you analyse the amount you are earning vs the amount you are spending, and helps in balancing your income. A budget plan is also crucial for setting financial goals, and is a popular way of learning how to manage or repay debt.
The budget spreadsheet is made in Microsoft Excel. It is able to work on all formats of Excel. If you have Excel installed on your computer, this will work for you. Otherwise, you can upload the spreadsheet to Google Drive and use Google Sheets to fill out the template.
Many people start a budget is to assess their current level of debt and discover ways to either manage their debt obligations or pay debts off early. A budget will display your income vs expenses, and allow you to quickly view where you can make changes to allocate extra cash toward additional repayments, or where you can cut back on expenditure to free up cash flow.
You certainly can, but using a budget template will make the process far easier, especially if it’s your first time budgeting. There are also lots of spreadsheets available on the internet, though there are no free templates that are as concise or useful as the one we offer here.
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