Budgeting Templates: Freebies

If you want a shortcut to start the budget, budget templates present the best way to get started. In this blog, I’ll demonstrate the mechanics of these free budgeting templates. Microsoft Office, Google Sheets and the Open Office Suite offer a free budget template, and with the templates comes the insight and knowledge to control your personal finance. Inside the websites, sign up for the free online versions of Microsoft Office and Google Workspace, or download the free Open Office Suite and start budgeting.  

To be sure, other budgeting tools appear on the internet for a free trial or a fee. But since these examples are free, let’s consider these office productivity templates:

1. Microsoft 365 Budget Spreadsheet
2. Google Sheets Budget Spreadsheet
3. Open Office Monthly Budget

The personal budget templates accomplish any type of budgeting the average household needs. Explore the templates and discover the one you prefer. The products discussed fit all-size budgets, but edit the templates to fit your specific needs. The spreadsheets work in different environs, so if you use the Open Office productivity suite budget template, open it in the MS 365 Budget Spreadsheet, or Google Sheets.   

Personal Budget Spreadsheet from Microsoft for 365

Any decent spreadsheet app template simplifies the budget process, and MS 365’s version offers a good example of this process. 

Is there a Budget Template in MS 365?

Go to your Outlook Live Account. If you don’t have an account, just sign up for free.  

Click the 9-pin grid in the upper right-hand corner, and enter to 365 Suite. Click the Exel Icon. 

Search the Template offerings until the budget templates appear. Look for a template named “a simple personal budget.” In addition, a second template called “a budget calculator” also appears. People use a budget calculator to figure out the over/under of their financial goals. Both templates show the budget-minded person some attractive, practical tools. 

Is 365 Good for Budgeting?

In truth, many companies use 365 for budgeting purposes, and it accomplishes personal budgeting as easily. The “personal simple budget” sheet looks perfect for the the typical household. Add additional lines beneath headings like “Utilities” and include stuff like Internet connection, gas/heating, electricity, garbage pickup, etc. 

The same approach works with entertainment expenses. Keeping an eye on the amount of money you save at the top of the budget sheet, subtract or add items like streaming services, gym dues, dining out expenses, book clubs, sports tickets, theater/opera/ballet tickets. With a bit of research, less expensive entertainment materializes magically. Lower your monthly budget by decreasing amounts or eliminating a cost altogether, and watch your savings grow – all on one spreadsheet.

Things like backyard stargazing, long walks, and rock collecting represent a much less expensive activity than theater-going or big league season tickets. With a budget like this, everything you spend grows clearer and clearer until you see exactly how to move money around to maximize your income’s potential. 

Google Sheets’ Budgeting templates

The Google Workspace includes Sheets when you sign up for a free Google account. Push the nine-pin box in the upper right-hand corner of your Google browser and go to Sheets. Push “templates” and discover the Monthly Budget template. Though you discover more prominent apps than the Monthly Budget, many are business tools, and who needs to complicate their personal budgeting with a complicated business app? 

Inside the Monthly budget, your monthly savings appear conspicuously at the top, calculated from the information you entered in the app. Just fill in your personal data in the spaces below, and watch your budget take shape. You can edit the Monthly Budget as you edit any spreadsheet, by using Google Sheet’s toolbars. Delete whole lines you don’t use or just type over categories with your own categories.

Your monthly budget appears on your smartphone after you open Google Sheets.  

Open Office Monthly Budgeting templates

If you use the Open Office productivity suite, check out the free personal budget spreadsheet that’s included in the Open Office’s templates selection. If you didn’t get a budget tool in the templates, go to the Open Office website associated with your version and look it up.

Check Out the Tax Rate Tool

The tax rate tool stands out as the best feature of the Open Office Monthly Budget. While synced to the state you live in, it accurately calculates your federal, state, and FICA tax rate by simply entering your monthly income. so, just enter your before-tax monthly pay rather than your take-home pay. 

Does using your before-tax income number have hidden advantages? It shows how much money is being deducted from your paycheck, information you can use. For instance, you may want to research the W2 form about deductions. Contrarily, budgets often start with after-tax income, but that presents another opportunity. Check your numbers from your pay stub against your budget numbers.  

Non-tax deductions taken from your paycheck amount to important numbers too, like the cost of health insurance. Subtract that amount from the budget items.  

In addition, in the Open Office template, enter investments and create a rainy day fund, not a bad thing to start in a world with pandemic viruses or other threats to economic security. 

Budgeting Templates: One Size Doesn’t Fit All

The one-size-fits-all character of these templates makes it easy to modify to your particulars. You may not be interested in paying for life insurance if you’re single, so delete the life insurance line with the editing tools. If you’re married with small children, you may not want a big bruiser dog around the house, so delete the pet expense line. If you’ve snipped the cable cord, you may want to delete the cable service expense, but edit it rather than delete it. For example, add a streaming service expense instead. Finally, you can also add lines for investments, savings, etc. In fact, from top to bottom, tailor these templates to your needs. 

Get started budgeting with these tools, and control control over your personal finances follows. 

Regardless of which app you choose to use, it’s easily accessed from your Smartphone or another mobile device. On a Kindle Fire, use the Mobi productive suite, a free download, to access Google Sheets. 

As in Open Office, both Google Sheets and MS 365 lend their tools to your personal expenses and income record-keeping process. 

Originally published in 2021, this article’s been slightly edited.

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