Save Money with Free Budget Planners

You have the option to get the Microsoft Excel or the Google Sheets version of the budget tracker.

If you’d like to access it across multiple devices—including your phone—we recommend using the Google Sheets version. Just make sure you’re signed in with an active Google account on all your devices.

Note: The Google Sheets file is a master template. To get your own copy, simply click the link, then go to “File” and select “Make a copy.” 

Once you’ve filled in your details, your personalised budget planner will look something like this:

Step 2. Log Your Start Date

Go to the “Income and Expenses” tab to log the date when you started using the budget planner. You only need to input the month and year. 

For example, you started in June of 2025, simply put 06-2025.

Step 3. Track Your Income

Start by checking last month’s income using your online banking. Log in to your bank’s website, use the search or filter tool, and select transactions marked as income for the previous month. This gives you a full view of your earnings.

If you’ve received any cash-in-hand income, make sure to add it too. Can’t remember where it came from? Make a habit of noting it down in your budget tracker as soon as you receive it.

Step 4. Fill in the “Specified Income” Tab

In the budget tracker, go to the “Specified Income” tab. Enter each income source with the correct date and choose the category that fits:

• Income (including second jobs)
• Benefits (like Universal Credit)
• Bonuses or compensation
• Additional income

Need to add your own category? You can rename them in the “Income and Expenses” tab.

Note: In Google Sheets, don’t type directly in the linked cell—edit the name within the formula, inside the quotation marks (” “).

Tip: For the most accurate results, log a full month of income. Only entering part of the month will give you an incomplete and inaccurate average.

Step 5. Track Your Expenses

Just like Step 3, you should also track your expenses for the month. Doing this will give you an overview of your monthly spending habits. Make sure to track both online and physical expenses/transactions.

Step 6. Fill in the “Specified Expenses” Tab

Click on the “Specified Expenses” tab to fill in your expenses. Make sure to log the expenses under the correct category and add notes, if any. We categorised our budget planner accordingly:

• Essential expenses (Rent, Utilities, etc.)
• Travel
• Food
• Trips and holidays
• Entertainment (Restaurants, Cinema, etc.)
• Commitments (Subscriptions, etc.)
• Care products
• Additional expenses

If you have extra expenses not listed, you can add them in the “Income and Expenses” tab. You can also rename the categories there.

Using Google Sheets? Don’t type directly into the linked category cells—it will break the link. Instead, update the name inside the formula (look for the text between the quotation marks “ ”).

When using the budget planner for the first time, try to log a full month’s expenses. If you only enter part of the month, the average won’t be accurate and may give a misleading picture. If you want to get additional savings on food or household items, check out our Food and Drink deals page or our Home and Garden deals page for money-saving vouchers.

Step 7. Set a Savings Goal per Category

Having a goal will help you motivate yourself to commit to your savings journey. Start with small steps, create goals that you can easily achieve. For example, set a goal to save £100 per month. From there, you can look back on your expenses and see which ones you can reduce your spending on. Add your goal per category in the blue cells in the “Income and Expenses” tab.

Looking to boost your savings? Check out our article How to Save Money? for 101 smart tips to help you get there.

Step 8. Evaluation

Tracking your expenses consistently will help you see how much savings you’ve accumulated and how your spending habits affect your total savings. 

To get a visual representation of your monthly budget, check the “Expenses Graph” tab. Here you can easily see the accumulated expenses decrease over time, from the moment you started budget planning.

Step 9. Be Consistent

Consistently logging your income and expenses will give you a more accurate tracking and forecast of how much you have left in your budget. The best way to fill in your budget planner is by logging your expenses daily or by the end of each week. By doing this, you can allot extra cash to cover additional costs in the current month, helping you stay on top of bills and avoid falling behind.

The budget planner may look big at first, but it’s easy to use. Buttons and links on the left help you move between tabs quickly. In the “Income and Expenses” tab, you can click the blue links to jump to the right category. In the “Specified Income” and “Specified Expenses” tabs, use the yellow buttons to switch between sections easily.

When you enter amounts for the current month, totals are automatically calculated. Your monthly averages are based on past data (excluding the current month), so adding a new income or expense later won’t affect previous averages.

To protect the formulas, they’re locked in the spreadsheet, so you can only edit your income and expenses. If you’re confident using Excel and want to make changes, use the password: voucheralarm.com.

To unlock formulas, go to the Excel menu, select “Unprotect Sheet,” and enter the password. To view the hidden formulas sheet, click “Home,” then “Format,” and choose “Unhide.”

For more saving tips and discount deals, check out VoucherAlarm.