Master Your Money: Free Budget By Paycheck Worksheets

Budgeting is one of my favorite topics to talk about. I know I’m one of the only people who is nerdy enough to say that. However, it’s true! Having a budget is so powerful for adulting. We may think budgeting is mainly about restricting ourselves. But it’s actually one of the best ways of creating a fulfilling life.

Why You Should Budget

How is that the case? If we aren’t aware of how much we make and spend each month, we can’t be clear on whether we’re on track to reach our financial goals. This is the power of a good budget. It helps clarify how much money we have and how we’re spending it. It also lets us assess whether we’re truly using our money on things that are valuable to us or if we’re wasting money on things we don’t really care about. 

Moreover, a budget can show us when it’s time to ask for a raise or even look for a new job. After all, there’s a limit to how much we can cut. But there’s no limit to how much we can make. In fact, I was motivated to ask for a promotion and start a side hustle teaching when I realized that despite saving 40% of my income, I was still years away from affording a house.

Consequently, a good budget can be the foundation for our dreams, whether it’s going on a vacation, buying a house, planning a dream wedding, or having a comfortable retirement. 

If you’re looking for guidance on how to create your own budget, you’ve come to the right place. Below I describe the key things to think about when you’re starting a budget. You can then use my free printable budget worksheet below to help you create your own personal budget and start working towards your goals.

Free Budget Printables

Below is my free budget template for creating a simple budget. If you prefer your printables in different colors, feel free to contact me via the contact form and I can alter them for you. You can also download the budget planner as a PDF file.

You can also print out my free holiday budget worksheet! This is designed to help you plan your gift giving, wishlist, and even activities you’d love to do this Winter! The saved amount indicates how much you have saved up for the holidays so far. The difference indicates how far you have left to go!

How to Use the Paycheck Budget Worksheet to Create a Budget

Decide on a Cadence

I created the printable template above to give you the flexibility to budget by your paycheck or by the month. If you prefer to budget by your paycheck, include income and expenses for your pay period in the worksheet. If you prefer to budget based on your monthly income, you can track income and expenses through the end of the month on the worksheet. I designed these for your personal use, so feel free to use them as inspiration if you prefer to design your own worksheet or prompts.

I get paid twice a month and I prefer to track my monthly budget. This is simply because my first paycheck gets eaten up by the monthly bills that are all due at the beginning of the month. My next paycheck gets used for my savings goals and discretionary spending. So if I tracked my budget by paycheck, I’d have one paycheck planner that looks very different from the next each month.

If your monthly expenses (especially your larger bills) are spread out over the month, you might prefer to track by paycheck. Likewise, if you find yourself living paycheck to paycheck, you may find it helpful and even necessary to zoom in to the paycheck level.

Assess Your Income

The next thing you’ll want to figure out is your take-home income. That is, the actual income that gets deposited into your bank account after taxes are taken out. An easy way to figure this out is to look at your bank account and write the number down in the budgeting worksheet. If you are tracking monthly and get paid more than monthly, you’ll multiply that number by the amount of times you’re paid throughout the entire month.

You’ll also want to track any income you get from side hustles, gifts, your own business, etc.

Savings Goals and Debt Payments

Next, you’ll want to assess your savings goals and debt payments. Financial experts recommend that you use 20% of your income on savings and debt repayments.

Additionally, most of us should aim to save 12-15% of our gross income for retirement. That 12-15% can include any employer matches. If you’re feeling surprised by those numbers you’re not alone. Most of us don’t come close to that.

Starting a budget is a great way to think more intentionally about your savings goals. Those savings goals could include paying off your student loans, buying a house, or going on a cool vacation. Figure out how much you need to save each month to reach your goals and then try to build that into your budget. You can check out my guide on prioritizing multiple savings goals to figure out how to do that.

If you’re not sure what your savings goals are, spend some time dreaming! If you have a partner, dream with them! In your budget worksheet, I give you space to dream about your 3 biggest financial goals. Additionally, if you don’t have an emergency fund yet, make that your first savings goal. You should ideally have 3-6 months of bare bones living expenses saved to cover an emergency like a job loss or medical bill.

Using the free printable monthly budget template above, fill in your savings goals and the amount each month you need to spend on debt payments. Aim to pay off your debt in full each month. However, if that’s not possible, check out my guide on eliminating debt.

Necessary Expenses

After you’ve figured out (and written down) your income, savings, and debt, you’ll list out either your necessary expenses. Your necessary expenses are just that–things that are necessary for living. They include your: 

• Housing
• Food
• Transportation
• Utilities
• Insurance

For many of us, these expenses will be relatively fixed expenses. In other words, the monthly bills for these items don’t change too much over time. This can make them a little easier to budget for. Review your bills over the past few months and estimate an average for each of these items if they are somewhat variable (like food!) Write those expenses down in the “Necessities” section of the free budget template. 

A common budget rule suggested by many financial experts is to keep your necessary or fixed expenses to 50-60% of your household budget.

You can add the estimated amount you will spend on each of these items to the “Budgeted” column. Or, if you are outside of that 50-60% range and hoping to cut down on expenses, you can put in your desired amount. I’ll discuss strategies for reducing your spending on these items below.

Unnecessary Expenses

After you have gone over your necessary expenses, you’ll move to your unnecessary or discretionary expenses. For many people, looking at their unnecessary spending habits will provide the biggest insights into how they treat money and where to cut.

These expenses tend to be more variable expenses, changing month-to-month. However, you can generally group them into categories if it’s helpful. Common budget categories of unnecessary expenses include:

• Subscriptions (looking at you streaming services!)
• Hobbies (including things like gym memberships)
• Clothing (in most cases, obviously you need some clothing)
• Dining Out
• Events
• Alcohol
• Home Decor
• Travel

I know, these are all the fun things. And just because they’re not necessary for living, doesn’t mean I’m going to tell you to cut them out. However, if you don’t have enough money to meet your financial goals or, certainly, to pay your bills, these are important places to review and consider cutting. 

Review your spending over the past few months and calculate averages for your non-necessary expenses and list them in the free budget worksheet. Based on the budget rule mentioned above, most financial experts recommend spending 20-30% of your income on non-necessary expenses. I’ll describe how to go about cutting things if you need to below.

How to Use Your Budget to Save Money 

Hopefully the paycheck budgeting worksheet has given you a better sense of your income, necessary and non-necessary expenses, savings goals, and debt payments. Now you’ll have a better sense of whether you need to reduce your spending. But how do you go about doing that?

First, keep in mind though that adapting to a budget is a process. Just like with dieting or exercise, you’ll set yourself up for failure if you try to lop off 50% of your grocery budget in one go. If you’re looking to cut costs, aim to reduce a budget category by 5% or 10% and see how that goes and then keep cutting from there if necessary. It may be helpful to remember that, for most people, their biggest expenses are (in order): housing, food and transportation. Consequently, many people will save a lot of money by reassessing their spending in these areas. It may mean moving to a lower cost home or area, consolidating to one car, or meal planning.

If you can’t cut your necessary expenses enough, move to your non-necessary expenses. Look at your spending and star any items or spending buckets that made you really happy. For me, that’s my climbing membership and massages. Write an X by any items or spending buckets that did not truly make you happy. That might be TV subscriptions you didn’t use much or at all, overdoing it on unhealthy takeout, or spontaneous Amazon purchases you’ve barely touched. Consider ruthlessly cutting those expenses that didn’t make you happy and preserving those expenses that truly did.

Other Budgeting Options

If the budget spreadsheet above doesn’t meet your needs, there are other options! For example, I love the budgeting Excel spreadsheet created by Nerdwallet. They also have an online expense tracker that’s quite handy. Nerdwallet has tons of other free resources and digital products that are great for learning about financial topics as well.

Additionally, Mint has a variety of budgeting tools available. They offer a mobile app that includes budgeting planners. And they offer free monthly budget templates you can download as an Excel file. You can choose from simple templates or more complex templates that include a wide range of budgeting categories.

If you prefer physical products, I love Clever Fox’s budgeting journals. They have some of the best budget templates, in my opinion. Plus, they come in a variety of different styles. For example, if you want a super comprehensive budget tracker, you can go with their Pro budget journal. However, if you prefer something simpler, you can go with their bi-weekly budget planner. These planners also help give you a sense of your annual budget and goals.

What’s Next?

So now that you’ve developed your budget and noted any areas where you may need to cut, what’s next? As you are starting on your budgeting journey, the most important thing is to keep yourself accountable. You can do this by checking in on your spending every couple of weeks to make sure you’re on track. For more tips on how to save money, you can also check out my guide on saving money.

If you’re looking for slightly more advanced options to keep your budgeting on track, you can set up automatic transfers. For example, you can set up automatic transfers to your savings account to make sure you’re on track for your savings goals. This will also prevent you from over-spending by giving you a clear sense of the money left over after you save.

Additionally, the envelope system can be a great tool for keeping your financial goals on track. Many online banks let you set up cash envelopes for particular savings goals. You might have a savings envelope for a wedding and one for a house, for example. You can then automatically transfer a percentage or amount of your savings to each of these envelopes at a set period of time. The advantage of this system is that you can see if you’re on track for each of your goals!

Final Thoughts

While money management can feel overwhelming, the good news is that a few simple tools can make it so much easier. Financial freedom is closer than most of us think. The first step is feeling empowered to take control of our finances and advocate for ourselves and our financial future if we aren’t earning enough money.

I hope you found the printable monthly budget sheets useful for your own financial adulting. If you use them, let me know what you think! Have any suggestions for future monthly budget printables? Let me know in the comments! If you liked this post, please consider liking, subscribing, or sharing with others. I always really appreciate it!

And keep an eye out for next week’s post when I’ll provide free printable budget templates for kids!

Last but certainly not least, keep in mind that I am not a financial advisor. This information is purely for entertainment and informational purposes. Before making any financial decisions, seek financial advice from a professional.