Free Family Budget Template for Excel and Google Sheets

How the template is laid out

Use one tab per year and one column per month. Column A holds the category, column B holds its type (Income, Fixed, Variable, Debt or Savings), and columns C onward hold the planned amount for each month. Tagging the type in column B is what lets a single formula total each group without rewriting ranges every time you add a category.

Add a second tab called Transactions with four columns — date, category, amount, who paid — so you can compare what you planned against what actually happened.

Copy this category list

The example column is a sample month for a two-income household. Replace the numbers with your own and delete any category you do not use.

The five formulas that do the work

All five work identically in Excel and Google Sheets. If you name the summary cells (Income, Expenses, Savings), the last two formulas stay readable as your sheet grows.

Fill it in once a week

A budget spreadsheet fails for one reason: nobody updates it. Book a ten-minute weekly money date, enter the week's transactions, and glance at the "left to allocate" cell. If it is negative, move money between variable categories rather than raiding savings.

If you want to go further, pair this with zero-based budgeting for couples and a fair way to split expenses with your partner.

When a spreadsheet stops being enough

Spreadsheets work beautifully for one person. They get fragile the moment two people log expenses on two phones: rows collide, formulas break, and nobody remembers who paid for the groceries. That is the point where families move to an app.

Nest keeps the same idea — categories, monthly totals, savings goals — but every member logs from their own phone. Shared expenses record who paid and split evenly, and at the end of each settlement period Nest tells you exactly who owes whom. Personal spending stays in a private Personal space.

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