4 Free budgeting printables.
Expense tracker, goal setting, and printable budgeting worksheets for beginners.
If there is one thing that is universal, it is that everyone has a financial situation. Great, good, bad…we all have finances to deal with. And how we deal with our finances directly affects the level of stress in our lives.
The decisions we make financially have life-long consequences.
Because of that, I’ve developed some free budgeting printables below.
~~~~~This post contains some affiliate links for your convenience (which means if you make a purchase after clicking a link I will earn a small commission which helps keep my blog up and running but it won’t cost you a penny more)! Click here to read my full disclosure policy.~~~~~
Basic Advice for Beginners
Not only have I learned a lot from my own personal finances, I used to volunteer at a homeless shelter. The printables were originally developed for a class I taught. Each week we did a self-sufficiency class. And this was the most popular class. Homeless women- on limited income- could still take control of their finances. These free budgeting printables were very popular with them.
One of the thing that I was amazed at- both when I was learning and when I was teaching others- is the lack of basic knowledge.
But when I started reading financial books, I kept reading the same advice again and again.
- Figure out how much you’re spending (track expenses).
- Make a budget based on BOTH what you normally spend and what you SHOULD be spending.
- You should NOT be spending more than you are making. If this is occurring, serious, serious changes need to occur. The only thing at end of the road of spending more than making on a long-term is bankruptcy.
- Your new budget should include money for savings: emergency fund, paying down debt, or retirement.
Of course, that advice is much easier to give than to follow through with.
For example, trimming expenses isn’t hard. There are hundreds of ideas on the internet. And I include some in my book “Personal Money Management.”
It’s not hard making the decision. It’s when you have to decide for the 20th time in a row to eat that lunch you brought from home instead of running across the street for fast food that it gets hard.
If you’re super-serious about getting your finances in shape, now is the time to buy Personal Money Management.
Click the button below to read all about the product and/or to add to your cart. If you want to see the item in store>>> click here.
Instructions & information on printables
Instructions:
• Print options: regular paper works just fine!
• All of the files are in pdf below. Just hit the “download” button below (or next) to the image for the one you want.
• The default size of these is full-page. However, if you want smaller, simply reduce the print size! If you’re not sure on how much to reduce, check out my post “How to Resize Printables to Fit Your Planner.”
• There are two different monthly free budgeting printables below.
The first is a simple one with most of the categories filled in. There are a few blank spots. If this is someone’s first time ever making a budget, this is probably where I would start.
The second monthly budget one includes space for income and savings as well as multiple blanks for expenses. If someone has an idea where there money is going, and wants to make a serious budget, including money for savings, this second one is the one I would suggest.
• There is also a sheet for setting financial goals (more on that below).
• And lastly, a very simple daily expense tracker.
Side note: The first designs I made were horrible. I mean completely bad. This was before I even thought about doing printables for my website. If you happened to see one of those somewhere (Pinterest) and really loved it, you can find them at the very bottom of the post.
Free printable budgeting printables
This is actually a two-page template (the second page is room for more expenses). The image above is just a preview of the first page. The file for both pages is below.
This is a single page sheet with a few suggested categories.
Free Printable Expense Tracker
I highly, highly suggest that you track every single penny for at least one month. You will be amazed at where some of your money is going. The key to figuring that out is writing down EVERYTHING. Even a .50 cent soda bought with loose change.
Most importantly, categorize everything. You need to know approximate amount you are spending on categories in order to make an accurate budget. Most people just guess at the amount. As a result, they almost inevitably fail at meeting their budget.
Free Printable Goal Worksheet
Set SMART Goals
The simple fact is that for goals to be powerful, they should be designed to be SMART.
- Specific
- Measurable
- Attainable
- Relevant
- Time Bound
If you want to learn more about setting goals, see “Conquer Your Long-Term Goals” post. There is a free printable there too.
Old Designs
Conclusion
I hope these free budgeting printables help you if you’re just starting out taking control of your finances. Of course, I highly recommend signing up for the budgeting binder. It’s fabulous and includes many more resources.
Not Supplied says
I wanted to send an anonymous comment to you.
I work at a software company and I try to be nice to the folks around me. Someone that cleans our office recently informed me that their Mom kicked them out of the house and they are only 17 years old. They’re scared and trying to work to earn enough money to stand on their own. They are in an apartment with a friend.
I wanted to help them out so I’m going to bring in some Wanted ads from the newspaper and we’re going to look and see if there are any other jobs they could perform that pay more than cleaning the office. Then we’re going to talk about acquiring some skills in job fields where the compensation is higher than cleaning.
I also told them I was going to show them how to track their expenses and ultimately make a budget. While we’re going to get this person a library card so they can visit the public library and take training online she doesn’t have any other electronic devices. Your paper worksheets for tracking monthly expenses, plotting financial goals, and forming a budget are going to be useful vehicles for helping this person understand and manage their spending patterns.
I just wanted to let you know that your templates are appreciated. Thank you – you are going to make a difference in this young person’s life.