Free Budget Template: A Simple Tool to Help You Track Your Money

Add your income and expenses to this monthly budget planner, and we'll show how your spending aligns with the 50/30/20 rule.

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Creating a budget can feel overwhelming — until you have a simple tool that shows you exactly where your money should go. A good budget planner helps you understand your spending, cover your essentials and still make progress on savings or debt. NerdWallet’s budget worksheet uses the 50/30/20 rule to help you do just that.

NerdWallet free budget template

The choice is yours. Download our spreadsheet to create a budget, or complete our online budget planner quiz flow. Both options are free. Add your monthly income, expenses and any contributions to savings or debt repayment. We'll total up your needs, wants and savings and debt and compare it with the 50/30/20 breakdown so you can make adjustments if needed.

Information to gather before you build your budget

Before using the free budget spreadsheet, collect a few key pieces of financial information: ✅ Take-home pay: Your monthly income after taxes. A recent pay stub will likely be the easiest place to find this information. ✅ T ake-home pay ✅ Fixed expenses. Costs that stay the same each month, like rent, insurance, loan payments, child care and memberships. Check account statements to find recurring charges and their amounts. ✅ Fixed expenses ✅ Variable costs. Costs that change month to month, including utilities like electricity and water, groceries, fuel costs, shopping, dining out, travel and entertainment. Look back at past transactions to estimate your spending in these categories. ✅ Variable costs. ✅ Debts, including interest. Include all debts and interest — credit cards, medical bills, student loans and more. ✅ De bts, including interest. Having these details ready will make creating your budget quicker and more accurate. » REGISTER: Track all your money in one place with NerdWallet » REGISTER: Track all your money in one place with NerdWallet » REGISTER: Track all your money in one place with NerdWallet » REGISTER: » REGISTER:

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Explore more on Article sources NerdWallet writers are subject matter authorities who use primary, trustworthy sources to inform their work, including peer-reviewed studies, government websites, academic research and interviews with industry experts. All content is fact-checked for accuracy, timeliness and relevance. You can learn more about NerdWallet's high standards for journalism by reading our editorial guidelines. About the authors Lauren Schwahn is a writer at NerdWallet who covers credit scoring, debt, budgeting and money-saving strategies. She contributed to the "Millennial Money" column for The Associated Press and managed a team of writers producing content for the series. Her work has also been featured by USA Today, MSN, The Washington Post and more. Lauren has a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of California, Santa Cruz. She is based in San Francisco. Published in Amanda Barroso, Ph.D., is a writer and content strategist helping consumers navigate budgeting, credit building and credit scoring. Before joining NerdWallet, Amanda wrote about demographic trends at the Pew Research Center and earned a Ph.D. from The Ohio State University. Her work has been featured by the Associated Press, Washington Post and Yahoo Finance. Published in NerdWallet free budget template Information to gather before you build your budget The Best Budget Apps for 2026 Free Budget Spreadsheets and Tools How to Budget Money in 5 Steps 50/30/20 Budget Calculator By Amanda Barroso, Elizabeth Ayoola The Best Budget Apps for 2026 By Amanda Barroso, Lisa Mulka, Laura McMullen How to Choose the Right Budget System: 4 Methods to Consider By Lauren Schwahn Zero-Based Budgeting: What It Is And How It Works By Lauren Schwahn, Elizabeth Ayoola Is the 60/30/10 Budget Right for You? By Tiffany Curtis, Amanda Barroso What Is Cash Stuffing? How to Use the Envelope Budget System By Lauren Schwahn, Elizabeth Ayoola Pay Yourself First: Reverse Budgeting Explained By Lauren Schwahn, Amanda Barroso