excel monthly income and expenses template

In Shannon Lee Simmons’ highly readable book, Worry Free Money, the financial planner writes that “unless you know what you can afford, everything feels expensive.” Paying attention to how you spend gives you the security and freedom to pursue your goals, guilt free. Budgeting is a tool that you can whip out time and time again to bring order to that chaos. No matter where you are in life and what you have on the horizon, feelings of financial anxiety can (and often will) creep in. If you’re one of those rare humans who are naturally frugal and already adept at saving, creating a budget can reassure you that you’re on the right track. Creating a budget is a great way to build a lifestyle that allows you to get where you want to go, and a system that keeps you accountable to your plan. Maybe your values include being debt-free by age 30, or saving up enough to buy an irresistibly adorable bernedoodle. Put very simply, a budget is meant to do only two things: (A) Ensure you’re not accidentally going into the red, and (B) Align your spending with your values. So, let's go over the steps to getting your financial life in order and creating a budget that works for you. Think of it like Marie Kondo’ing your finances-something you can do today to help quell your money anxieties and you know, spark more joy in your life. If you want to keep buying jojoba beard oil, go right ahead! A budget’s job is to help you organize your finances so that you can do more of what you want to do in life and stop having nightmares about never ending credit card statements. But it doesn't have to be that way! In fact, the purpose of a budget is not to make you feel bad about the way you spend your money. The term “budgeting” can be a bit scary because it conjures up images of 10-tabbed excel spreadsheets designed to make you feel guilty about every dollar you're spending. So, we created our own template that’s easy to fill out and gives you a bird’s-eye view of your finances. But, after scouring the internet, it’s clear there aren’t that many templates out there that actually work.

Excel monthly income and expenses template