Editable Budget Worksheet

One of the most popular printables series on Organizing Homelife is my Home Management Binder series.  So many of you have requested that I make my printables editable, so I am now offering editable printables in my shop!

I do not intend to offer financial advice or suggest that this is the only way to budget.  I hope this budget will be an inspiration to you to help you gain control over your money so it doesn’t control you!

This budget is based on Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover.

How to Use This Budget:

1.  Write your net annual income on the first line.  If you are paid weekly, enter your weekly income on the second line.  If you are paid bi-weekly, multiply your income by 26, then divide it by 52.  That will determine the total amount of money you have to save and spend each week.

2.  Using the same method as described for your income, you need to figure out how much money will come out of your weekly pay for ALL of your expenditures (even your trips to Starbucks).  If it’s a monthly bill like your mortgage, multiply it by 12 and divide it by 52.  For example: If your mortgage is $1,000 per month, you would multiply it by 12 = $12,000/year.Then divide by 52 = $231/week needs to come out of your weekly pay.  If you have a quarterly bill, multiply by 4, divide by 12.  Get it?  If you spend $15 bucks a week on coffee, budget it in!

3.  Fill in all of your essential, non-flexible expenses first.  That includes your mortgage, car payments, etc.  These are bills that you know are the same every billing cycle.

4.  Next, fill in your essential bills that have fluctuations in expense, like your gas and electric bill.  Look at your bills over the last 12 months.  Add them up and divide by 52.  That will give you an average of how much you spend per week on gas and electric.  If it looks like you’re taking way too much out each week, just remember, winter heating bills are coming (or summer’s air conditioning)!

5.  Next, begin to fill in the categories that you have some control over like groceries and clothing.  They ARE necessities, but you obviously aren’t going to spend $100 on a new pair of shoes if you need new tires on your car in the same week. You might need to shop at a discount store for shoes if you must have them that week.  There IS flexibility there.

6.  Definitely plan in the fun!  Don’t forget to budget for your favorite things!  No one can stick to a plain ol’ boring diet, and no one can stick to a too-tight budget, either!  If you know you’re tight on money, but you really want to go to lunch with your friend this week, plan for it!  Have spaghetti for dinner, or skip those extra trips to McDonald’s this week.

7.  Remind yourself that you can do it!  This budget works, because although there are definitely weeks where the money is gone before the week is out, it will begin again the following week.  We get paid bi-weekly, but since our budget has been setup weekly, the amount of money I have available to spend is renewed every week.  Some things must be purchased, but most things can wait for a week. 🙂

Most importantly, when you begin to budget, you are making sure you know where your money is being spent.  You know you are paying your bills responsibly, not racking up debt, and you don’t have to feel guilty about having fun!

I cannot recommend Dave Ramsey’s books highly enough.  He explains all of this in much greater detail than I can explain here.

Best wishes as you begin your new budget!

This Budget Worksheet is now fully editable and is available in my shop!  Upon purchasing, your download will be available instantly.  You will also receive an email receipt with the download link.

Important:

You will receive a .zip file which includes the Budget Worksheet in PDF format.  In addition, the Google font, Didact Gothic, is also included if you wish to install it.  Font installation is not necessary, but please be aware that if your computer does not have that font installed, your printable may not appear exactly as pictured in these examples.  Your computer will choose a similar font.

Please also note that your editable printable will have blue fields (to show you where you can type), but the blue will not appear when the document is printed.