How to Make a Budget With Google Sheets

To make a budget with Google Sheets, list your monthly income and expenses, total each group with SUM, and subtract expenses from income to see what is left. Log every purchase on a Transactions tab, then use SUMIF to pull spending for each category back into the budget.

Prefer a finished file? Copy a free Google Sheets budget template and fill in your own numbers.

Before you start, keep in mind that there's no perfect method for budgeting. Your goal is to find the method that works for YOU. This guide is specifically designed to help you make a budget with Google Sheets. Are you looking for an easier way? Try the BudgetSheet extension for Google Sheets!

Overview: How to Make a Budget with Google Sheets

• Create a new Google Sheet
• Add your income
• List your expenses
• Total your income minus expenses
• Track your spending daily
• BONUS: Use BudgetSheet to create your budget automatically!

A Step-by-Step Guide to Making a Budget with Google Sheets

1. Create a new Google Sheet

Login to your Google account and open Google Sheets. Click Blank under Start a new spreadsheet. It should look like this. Ignore the monthly budget template from Google. You're creating your own!

2. Add your income at the top

Give your budget spreadsheet a name. Something like My Starter Budget works fine—type Monthly Income into cell A3. Then list your monthly income sources beneath it, with each dollar amount in column B. This helps you calculate how much money you have total from all sources. So, list everything!

In B7, total that income:

=SUM(B4:B6)

3. List your expenses by category

Now for the fun part! Type Monthly Expenses into cell A10. Then list your monthly expenses beneath it, and put the budgeted amount for each category in column B. Include both fixed and variable costs. That means the mortgage/rent and social outings too! If you want to track due dates , you can add a Due Dates column to cell C10. Listing your expenses gives you a complete view of where your money is going. This is important because you may have costs you forgot about!

In B22, total those expenses:

=SUM(B11:B21)

4. Total your income minus expenses

After you've totaled your income and expenses, subtract expenses from income. Add a row at the bottom of your budget named Total Leftover and, in B24, enter:

=B7-B22

B7 is the income total from =SUM(B4:B6). B22 is the expense total from =SUM(B11:B21).

5. Track your spending daily

Now here's the kicker! A budget doesn't work if you don't check it. Add a second sheet and name it Transactions, with these columns:

• A — Date
• B — Description
• C — Category (use the same names as column A on your budget, such as Food & Groceries)
• D — Amount, as a positive number

Spent $50 on a babysitter? Add a row for that date, Babysitter, Kids, and 50. Spent $10 at Starbucks? Add a row for that date, Starbucks, Food & Groceries, and 10.

On the budget sheet, use column D as Actual and pull each category from the Transactions tab with SUMIF. In D11, next to Rent/Mortgage, enter:

=SUMIF(Transactions!C:C, A11, Transactions!D:D)

Copy that formula down through D21. It sums Amount wherever Category matches the name in column A of that row. Total everything spent on the Transactions tab with:

=SUM(Transactions!D:D)

By the end of the month, you'll have a comprehensive view of your spending habits! The magic of a budget is in the holistic view. It helps to see where you're overspending and where you can cut costs. One way to do this is by using the 50/30/20 principle. This budgeting standard can help you balance your budget in all categories. Check out our article on How to Track Your Spending with Google Sheets to learn more!

BONUS: Use BudgetSheet to create your budget automatically!

Does creating a budget sound like hard work? It doesn't have to be. Try using the BudgetSheet extension for Google Sheets! This helpful tool makes budgeting easy by doing the work for you! BudgetSheet uses Plaid to automatically track your expenses and add them to a Google Sheet. Your information is safe and secure because it works from your computer. None of your data is transmitted online. Plus, you get the ease of not having to do manual labor every day! Try BudgetSheet free for 15 days. You won't regret it!

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This article was contributed by Zachary Peterson, Financial Educator and Tech Enthusiast