Monthly Budget Tracker

Planned against actual by category, with income and expenses split automatically.

Free

Download .xlsx

No signup, no email. Yours to edit and use commercially.

14: live formulas, each one recalculated and checked
5: columns: Category, Type, Budgeted, Actual, Difference
4: figures worked out for you

Anyone trying to get a grip on monthly spending — usually looking for this when money disappears each month and nobody can say where.

Works in Excel 2013 and later, Microsoft 365, Google Sheets and LibreOffice Calc. Set up to print on one page wide. Version 1, updated 25 September 2026.

About this Monthly Budget Tracker template

A monthly budget only works if you compare what you planned with what actually went out. This free Excel budget tracker puts both side by side for every category, works out the difference per line, and splits income from expenses automatically so the totals stay right.

It finishes with the four numbers that matter each month: total income, total expenses, what is left over and your savings rate.

Good for

→Checking where a month's money actually went against the plan
→Spotting the categories you consistently overspend on
→Tracking your savings rate from one month to the next

What it works out for you

Summary

→Total income
→Total expenses
→Left over
→Savings rate

What is inside the Monthly Budget Tracker template

The table has 5 columns. Calculated columns fill themselves in; the rest are yours to type over.

→Category
→Type
→Budgeted
→Actual
→Difference

How to use the Monthly Budget Tracker in Excel

Type over the sample rows. Difference, totals and the summary all recalculate. Use the Type dropdown so the income and expense splits stay accurate.

The file opens with sample rows so you can see every formula working before you change anything. Type your own figures over them. When you need more rows, insert them inside the existing block rather than underneath it, so the totals keep covering every row.

Functions and formulas it uses

Every one of these exists in Excel, Google Sheets and LibreOffice, so the file behaves the same wherever you open it.

IFIFERRORSUMSUMIF

Questions about the Monthly Budget Tracker

How does the budget tracker know what is income and what is an expense?

Each row has a Type dropdown set to Income or Expense. The totals use SUMIF on that column, so a row lands in the right total as long as its Type is set.