Free budget spreadsheet
The budget spreadsheet this app grew out of.
Bills and paychecks down the side, twelve months across the top, and the row that matters: where checking lands at the end of each month. It’s free, no email needed, and it works in Excel, Google Sheets, and Numbers.
An .xlsx file, about 11 KB. Made-up numbers inside; type yours over them.
What’s inside
A grid like this one, twelve months wide, with the math already in. Blue cells are typed in; everything else works itself out.
| Row | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Paychecks | $5,200 | $5,200 | $5,200 | $5,200 |
| Found Money | – | – | – | $1,150 |
| Rent | $2,150 | $2,150 | $2,150 | $2,150 |
| Credit card | $1,480 | $1,390 | $1,450 | $1,420 |
| …and 8 more bills | ||||
| Life Happens | $120 | – | $1,450 | – |
| Money In | $5,200 | $5,200 | $5,200 | $6,350 |
| Money Out | $4,885 | $4,660 | $6,140 | $4,635 |
| Left Over (or Not) | $315 | $540 | −$940 | $1,715 |
| 1st of the Month | $600 | $715 | $1,055 | −$85 |
| Moved to Savings | $200 | $200 | $200 | $200 |
| Where You Land | $715 | $1,055 | −$85 | $1,430 |
March’s car repair puts checking under zero until April’s tax refund. That red cell is the whole point: you see it coming in January.
Opening it in Google Sheets
In Google Sheets, go to File → Import → Upload and pick the file. Or drop it in Google Drive and choose Open with → Google Sheets. The formulas come along.
Every row, explained
| Row | What it is |
|---|---|
| Paychecks | What lands in checking from work each month. |
| Found Money | One-time money in: a tax refund, a side gig, a Venmo payback. |
| Money In | Paychecks plus Found Money. |
| Bills | One row per bill, with its due day. A card you pay in full is one row: the statement you’ll pay. |
| Life Happens | One-time spending: the car repair, the birthday, the concert you “had” to go to. |
| Money Out | Every bill plus Life Happens. |
| Left Over (or Not) | Money In minus Money Out. Negative happens. |
| 1st of the Month | Checking on the 1st: your starting balance, then wherever last month landed. |
| Day 2 Reality Check | Checking once the bills due on the 1st (rent, the mortgage) are gone. |
| Moved to Savings | What moves from checking to savings. It leaves checking, but it isn’t spending. |
| Where You Land | Checking at the end of the month. Turns red below zero. |
| Rainy Day Fund | Savings: your starting balance plus everything moved there since. |
How to use it
- Type the first month you want to plan into First month. The other eleven follow along.
- Put what’s in checking and savings on that 1st at the top.
- Type your bills over the made-up ones (copy a row to add more), with the day each is due.
- Add the one-time stuff you already know about: the wedding in June, the tax refund in April.
- Read across Where You Land. The first month that turns red is the one to plan for now.
Groceries and gas don’t need rows. They usually ride on a card, so they’re in that card’s bill.
When the spreadsheet stops being fun
Spreadsheets are great until the fourteenth time you type in the electric bill. That’s where Ahead came from: the same rows and the same math, except your bank does the typing.
- It finds your bills and paychecks from a year of transactions, and files each bill under the card it’s on.
- Bills check themselves off as they’re paid, and months that are over match the bank.
- Every-other-week paychecks count three in the months that have three.
- It keeps going past December, into next year and the years after.
Try it free for 14 days, no card needed. Or keep the spreadsheet. We won’t be weird about it.
Questions people ask
Is it really free?
Yes. No email, no sign-up, no catch. Download it and it’s yours.
Does it work in Google Sheets and Numbers?
Yes. It’s a standard Excel file, and the formulas only use things all three understand. In Google Sheets, use File → Import. In Numbers, just open it.
Why doesn’t it have categories like groceries or dining out?
Because it’s about timing, not tracking. It answers “will checking be OK in March?”, and for that you need bills and paychecks. Everyday spending mostly shows up as your card bill.
What’s the difference between this and Ahead?
Same idea, same math. Ahead fills it in from your bank, checks bills off as they’re paid, handles paychecks that land every other week, and runs as many years out as you want.
See where your money lands.
Try all of Ahead free for 14 days. No card, and it takes about a minute to set up.
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