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Basic Monthly Budget Worksheets Everyone Should Have

Use these worksheets to track spending, saving, and monthly balances

How To Use Monthly Budget Worksheets

How to complete monthly budget worksheets, monthly budget worksheet templates, what to do after making a budget, frequently asked questions (faqs).

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Budgets help you plan your monthly spending to achieve your goals, whether those are trying to pay down debt, accumulate cash for a new car, or put away more in your savings account. Without a budget, money may sprint through your account as if it’s a revolving door.

Key Takeaways

• Budgets can help you track, plan, and watch spending to achieve financial goals.
• Budget worksheets offer a way to review ingoing and outgoing amounts in black and white.
• As you work with budget worksheets, you can adjust your budget as you refine your numbers.

Budgeting has also become increasingly popular in recent years; in 2022, 86% of respondents to a Debt.com survey said they tracked income and expenses. Before the COVID-19 pandemic, 70% of respondents did so. Almost one-third of respondents indicated they maintained a budget with spreadsheets.

Download and copy The Balance’s Spending Tracker Worksheet and Monthly Budget Income and Expenses Calculator .

Find out more about how to set up and fill in a budget worksheet template. Use it for a month or so to see how it works for you.

Budgets can help you manage your finances daily, monthly, and over the long term. You’ll gain insights into how you’re spending and saving money. Budgeting worksheets can help reconcile how much you planned to spend with how much you actually spent. There may be surprising expenses you frequently forget about or that add up fast despite being smaller amounts.

A budget could reveal areas of impulse buying, lack of savings, unused subscriptions, or other financial mismanagement signs, such as repeated late-bill fees. A budget worksheet can help you decide your priorities and even change your spending habits over time. If you get into the habit of using a budget worksheet, you may notice that you spend less and save more. You’ll be able to use that extra money to pay off debts, add to your emergency fund, or invest money for retirement.

Various budgeting approaches exist . The 30-day budget is the budgeting worksheet approach we’ll cover here. Reviewing income and expenses a month at a time is a manageable solution for many people.

Other ways to calculate your budget are with apps, pen and paper, or your financial institution’s budgeting tools. However, a simple worksheet doesn’t require bank logins, is accessible from multiple locations, can help perform automatic calculations, and needs just the right amount of maintenance.

A good “rainy day fund” amount is around three to six months’ of living expenses , but any savings is a great start. Keep your emergency savings in a bank account paying higher interest rates.

To complete monthly budget worksheets, gather your income information (from all sources) and your spending habits for the past month or so. Use your bank account statements, credit card statements, and other monthly income and expense records.

You also can use a Spending Tracker Worksheet (see above for the download link) to track your spending over a month. Before you use it, make a copy first:

• Click “File”
• Click “Make a copy”
• When the “Copy document” window pops up, type in a new name for your worksheet, such as “Emma’s Tracker.”
• Ensure you’re saving it to a folder you can access, then click the green button that reads “Make a copy.”

A step-by-step guide to making a budget can offer more details, including what to do if you receive variable incomes from gig or freelance work.

Do not enter any numbers into the worksheet cells tinted with pink, blue, or green—those cells contain formulas that shouldn’t be altered.

First, copy the Monthly Budget Income and Expenses Calculator (see above for the download link) described in “How to Complete Monthly Budget Worksheets,” above. Following these steps gives you a worksheet you can edit. Then work through the tabs in the worksheet linked above.

Monthly Income Calculator

A good first step is to calculate your monthly income. On the first tab of the worksheet, enter the income you expect to receive from all sources in the “Gross Income” category in the “Projected” column. Enter any deductions from your paycheck in the “Taxes Withheld and Payment Deductions” section and the “Projected” column.

You might base this on your previous month’s income—but if you’re expecting to work more or fewer hours this month, the budget worksheet is flexible enough to reflect fluctuations.

In the “Total Take-Home Pay,” you’ll see your projected net income.

Monthly Expenses Calculator

Click on the “Monthly Expenses Calculator” tab. There, enter your budgeted amount for each category in “Projected.” Expenses could be based on past spending habits you gather from account statements or your spending tracker.

Ensure you’re only entering amounts not already deducted from your paycheck. For example, if your health insurance premium is deducted from your paycheck, enter that on the “Monthly Income Calculator” tab, not as a monthly expense.

Feel free to add or delete categories based on your spending priorities and lifestyle. For example, you might not spend money on coffee or alcohol. Or you might pay alimony, but not have a pet to care for.

Monthly Surplus & Shortages Calculator

In the “Surplus & Shortages” tab, you’ll see how much money you project you’ll end up with at the end of the month. If you find your expenses are more than your income, look for ways to cut back, or earn more money before you find yourself in serious debt. If your income is more than your expenses, congratulations—you have money to stash in your savings.

At month’s end, review the amounts you entered for each tab and enter what you actually spent. Did you vastly overestimate some categories and underestimate others?

Some amounts will mostly stay the same, change slowly over time, or only change once a year. These fixed expenses might include mortgage, rent, health insurance, and car loan payments. Other expenses could fluctuate according to season, usage, or choices; for example, water bills, groceries, or gas. Some are required, while others, like a streaming service, might be optional, discretionary expenses.

You can continue to use the monthly expenses tracker to track spending through the month and keep tabs on big buys or categories you need to add (or delete). Some people find it easier to manage a budget when breaking down spending by week.

Use a budget to help shape your financial goals and vice versa. For example, you may decide you want to use your budget to help you get out of debt, buy a home, or save up for your kids’ future education. If you want to save money for a specific goal, you may need to “pay yourself first” with even $5 or $10 into a savings account to ensure money goes toward your goal every month—even if that means eating out less or spending less on groceries.

Take the opportunity to analyze your spending habits. Perhaps you budgeted only $100 per month for gas. At month’s end, you discover that you spent $150. If you ponder the reason for the difference, you may find it was due to inflation, big trips, or you just underestimated your gas usage. This could help you plan for next month’s gas budget and help answer why you’re chronically short on cash.

Review your budget at the end of each month and adjust for the coming month. Within a few months, you may be spending less and saving more.

What is a balanced budget?

A balanced budget is one where your income and expenses are balanced evenly, without too much or too little left over. One way to implement a balanced budget is with a zero-based budgeting approach , which aims to assign every dollar of your income to an expense, savings, or spending.

How can budgeting impact your overall wealth?

Budgeting can increase your overall wealth through:

• Creating limits on your spending
• Offering a savings path toward your financial goals
• Establishing or accelerating debt repayment
• Boosting emergency savings
• Initiating investing or retirement savings

A financial cushion can help prevent debt from building up or unexpected expenses from wiping out your reliable spend-and-save habits. Ideally, budgeting can help build generational wealth .

Debt.com. “ Americans Are Budgeting More Than Ever .”

University of Utah Cooperative Extension. “ Balancing the Budget, Fitting It All In .” Page 3.

Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. “ Budgeting: How To Create a Budget and Stick With It .”

Rutgers University Extension. “ The Benefits of Budgeting .”

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How to Make a Monthly Budget

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Over the course of 30 days, you’ll likely get paid once or twice, buy groceries, purchase clothes and make a payment toward your rent or mortgage.

With all of these transactions happening within a given time frame, a month is the right amount of time to measure your budget.

Here’s how to make a monthly budget.

What is a monthly budget?

A monthly budget accounts for the money that goes in and out of your financial accounts over the course of one month. (If you want to plan for everyone in your household, create a family budget .)

A good monthly budget should follow the 50/30/20 rule. According to this method, your monthly take-home income is divided into three categories: 50% for needs, 30% for wants and 20% for savings and debt repayment.

How to make a monthly budget

You can use a budgeting app to make a monthly budget for you, or you can make one yourself. Here’s how to design your own 50/30/20 plan in three simple steps.

1. Use a 50/30/20 calculator

A budget calculator will do the math so you don’t have to divide dollars and cents. Try out the one below for yourself. Input your monthly after-tax income to get rough estimates for your spending on wants, needs and savings.

2. Account for your expenses

Next, look at your current spending to see which expenses should be part of your monthly budget. For instance, your wants category may include your recurring music subscription, the movie tickets you buy and other things that fall outside of needs or savings/debt repayment. For a detailed list of possible budget categories, check out our list of monthly expenses .

3. Fill out a monthly budget worksheet

Ready to get started? NerdWallet’s budget worksheet is a good place to begin. Fill in the categories and automatically see how your spending maps up to the 50/30/20 rule. Make adjustments until you get to your desired levels. If you prefer to use Excel, there are lots of free budget spreadsheets and templates available online.

However you create your monthly budget, there's a chance you'll struggle to stick with it. If you're feeling stuck, try these budgeting tips to get back on track.

What’s next?

Track your expenses for free with NerdWallet .

Learn which expenses to list in your monthly budget .

Find your net worth .

on Capitalize's website

Personal Monthly Budget

Download our free monthly budget spreadsheet and get your personal finances under control. Compare your budget and actual spending on a monthly basis. Also try our yearly personal budget to make a budget for an entire year. If you have a family, try our family budget planner for a more detailed set of budget categories.

This spreadsheet helps you compare your monthly budget to your actual expenditures, and can be printed on a single page in portrait orientation. The difference between your budget and actual spending is calculated and formatted to make it easy to find out where you may be overspending.

Personal Monthly Budget Spreadsheet

Other versions.

License : Private Use (not for distribution or resale)

"No installation, no macros - just a simple spreadsheet" - by Jon Wittwer

Description

To use this template, just fill in numbers that are highlighted with a light-blue background (the Budget and Actual columns). Some numbers are included in the Home Expenses category as an example, but you'll want to replace those numbers with your own.

The purpose of this type of budget worksheet is to compare your monthly budget with your actual income and expenses. You record your desired budget for each category in the "Budget" column. This represents your goal - you're trying to keep from spending more than this amount. At the end of the month, you record in the "Actual" column how much you really spent during the month.

For a more detailed set of budget categories, see the Household Budget worksheet. See our articles Make a Budget and 5 Basic Budgeting Tips if you are just getting started or new to budgeting.

Using the Personal Monthly Budget Template

The calculations in the "Difference" column are set up so that negative numbers are bad. The spreadsheet uses the accounting format where negative numbers are in parenthesis like (115.00) , and conditional formatting is used to make the negative numbers red - red means bad in this case. So, if you spend more than you budgeted for, the value in the Difference column will be red - to help it stand out as a warning.

The Monthly Budget Summary table in the upper right of the worksheet totals up all your income and expenses and calculates your Net as Income minus Expenses. If your Net is negative, that means you have overspent your monthly budget.

Adding or Removing categories : You need to be careful when adding or removing categories, to avoid messing up the formulas used for calculating the totals. After making a change, you should check the formulas to make sure they are still correct.

More Budget Spreadsheets

• Money Manger - A more advanced budget management tool for Excel
• Personal Budget Spreadsheet The 12-month version of the above spreadsheet.
• Household Budget Spreadsheet (monthly) - More detailed and includes child expenses.
• Family Budget Planner A yearly budget planner, with the same categories as the household budget spreadsheet.
• Home Budget - Our original selection of home budget worksheets.

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How to Make a Budget: Your Step-by-Step Guide

12 Min Read | Jan 4, 2024

Making a budget might seem overwhelming at first, but hear this: You can do it. How? By breaking down the process a bit. Because no one eats an elephant by swallowing it whole. (You go one bite at a time.) And no one leaps into budgeting like a pro. (You take it one step at a time.)

So, here we go—bite by bite, step by step. Here’s how to make a budget in five steps.

• List Your Income
• List Your Expenses
• Subtract Expenses From Income
• Track Your Transactions
• Make a New Budget Before the Month Begins

What Is a Budget?

Real quick though, let’s define the word  budget . A budget is just a plan. It’s not a restriction on spending—it’s a plan for what you’ll do with your money. It’s a plan   for what’s coming in and what’s going out.

When you learn how to make a budget—and do it every month—you’re giving your money purpose. You’re taking control. Goodbye, money anxiety. Hello, money goals.

Keep reading to see how to make it happen so you can make a budget that works for you.

How to Make a Budget in 5 Steps

No matter how you feel about budgeting right now, no matter what money goals you have, and no matter your income—you can make (and keep!) a budget in just five steps.

But first, decide if you’re making a budget on paper, with a spreadsheet, or in an app. (I know a  great app called EveryDollar . It’s what I use to budget—and it’s the best. Just saying.) Either way, it’s totally okay to start by writing out everything on a sheet of paper.

Pro tip:  Before you dive into the steps, open up your online bank account or grab your bank statements. That will give you the info you need as you start filling out numbers in your budget.

Step 1: List Your Income

Income  is any money you plan to get during that month—that means your normal paychecks and any  extra money coming your way  through a side hustle, garage sale, freelance work or anything like that.

You work weekends as a barista or babysitter? That’s income, and it goes in your budget. 

Create separate income budget lines for every paycheck you (and your spouse) get, plus anything extra coming in. (Note: You’re working with  net income  here, meaning what you bring in after taxes or anything else that’s taken out of your paycheck.) Here’s an example:

His Paycheck 1: $1,500 Her Paycheck 1: $1,500 His Paycheck 2: $1,500 Her Paycheck 2: $1,500 Side Hustle: $500

Total Income: $6,500

If you’ve got an  irregular income , take a look at what you’ve made the last few months and list the  lowest amount  as this month’s planned income budget line. You can adjust later in the month if you make more and add that extra money to your money goal or another budget line.

Step 2: List Your Expenses

Now that you’ve planned for the money coming in, you can plan for the money going out. It’s time to list your expenses! (Yep, this is when that bank account or statement gets super helpful.)

Pro tip:  When you’re making a budget, before you put in all the things you’ll pay for this month, set aside money for giving. I believe in putting 10% of your income here—it’s a great way to start your budget with a  spirit of generosity ! Next, budget for your savings goals, like  an emergency fund  (depending on your Baby Step, which I'll talk about more in a minute). You've got to pay yourself first before you pay everyone else!

What’s next?

Cover your Four Walls.  That’s food, utilities, shelter and transportation . Make a budget category for each of these and create budget lines underneath for your specific expenses.

Start budgeting with EveryDollar today!

Think of a budget category as a folder and the lines as the files inside it. Or the category is like a playlist, and the lines are like the songs. Or . . . okay, you get it.

Here’s what it might look like for you (but with your numbers, of course!):

Budget Category: Food Groceries: $700

Budget Category: Utilities Electricity: $130 Water: $60 Natural Gas: $40

Budget Category: Shelter/Housing Mortgage: $1,450 HOA Fees: $50

Budget Category: Transportation Gasoline: $180

Some of these are called  fixed expenses —aka the expenses that stay the same every month, like your rent or mortgage.

Other expenses change up, like groceries or gasoline. By the way, that grocery budget line is super hard to guess at first, so just start with a really good estimate based on your past spending. You’ll learn better what you actually need here in the months ahead.

Next, list all other monthly expenses.  Start with the essentials: I’m talking about insurance,  debt , childcare, etc. Then work in a miscellaneous line and any nonessentials like personal spending, fun money and entertainment.

Then use your online bank account or those bank statements to estimate what you plan to spend for everything.

Here’s a quick callout. If you’re working to save money,  get out of debt , or hit some other money goal, you’ll get there way quicker if you cut back on the nonessential spending.

If you don’t know what goal to focus on right now, check out the  7 Baby Steps . This plan breaks the most important money goals into easy-to-understand, actionable steps!

Make new budget categories for your new budget lines.  Of course, if you spend money eating out, you can just add a line called Restaurants under your food category—as long as you remember groceries are a necessity , but drive-thrus or fancy three-course meals out  are not .  

Step 3: Subtract Expenses From Income

Math time! (It won’t be too bad. But it is totally necessary. Let’s do this.)

Subtract all your expenses from your income. This number should equal zero, meaning you just made a zero-based budget.

This is key: A  zero-based budget  doesn’t mean you let your bank account reach zero. (Leave a little buffer in there of about $100–300.) It also doesn’t mean you blow all your money.

Zero-based budgeting just means you  give every dollar a job to do : spending, giving,  saving or paying off debt . It’s all accounted for and given a purpose. It’s the reason I love this method.

You work hard for your money, right? Well, it should work hard for you! Every. Single. Dollar.

Okay, though, what do you do if you subtract your expenses from your income—and you’ve got money left over?  Don’t leave it there.  You’ll end up mindlessly spending it on  coffees , convenience store candy, and those one-click deals of the day. Get those dollars to work by putting any “extra” money toward your current  money goal .

What if you end up with a negative number? It’ll be okay. You just need to  cut expenses  until your income minus your expenses equals zero. (Hint: Start with those eating-out and entertainment budget lines. If restaurants are your love language, this will hit hard, but you can’t spend more than you make. You’ve got this!)

If you’re still struggling to make ends meet, don’t forget the power of the  side hustle  or overtime. Just remember not to increase your spending when you increase your income. Your extra cash needs to cover your budgeted expenses.

Is the math stressing you out a little? Listen, let  EveryDollar  do that for you. Our free budgeting app is made for this zero-based budgeting stuff, and you won’t have to keep running back to the calculator to get it right.

Okay, so that’s it for  making  a budget. The next two steps are all about  sticking with it .

Step 4: Track Your Transactions (All Month Long)

Ready for one of the biggest secrets for how to budget—and do it really, really well? Good, because I don’t want to keep it a secret. Here it is: Track. Your. Transactions.

Every single one.

Putting the plan on paper, in your spreadsheet, or in your app is just a bunch of good intentions without this step. It’s like writing down a goal to run a marathon, making a training plan, lacing up your shoes . . . and flopping on the couch with a bag of donuts.

What am I even talking about?  Tracking your transactions  means you account for  everything  that happens with your money  all month long .

When you fill up the  gas tank , subtract that expense from transportation. When you pay the rent, subtract that expense from housing. When you buy a coffee on the way to the office, subtract that expense from your personal spending (or whatever budget line you made for the perk that helps you work).

Track your transactions regularly. That might be once a week. Or at the end of each day. Or it might mean you log a purchase before you leave the grocery store parking lot. Whatever works for you and gets every expense tracked.

As you’re tracking, make adjustments as you need to. Yes, really! This is your budget. You make it work for you. If the  electricity bill  comes in higher than you thought, just tweak another budget line to make up for it. If the water bill comes in lower, then celebrate and move that money over to your current money goal—or add it to a budget line that went over.

I can’t say enough good things about tracking your transactions. But to sum up, I love this budgeting step because it’s how you:

• Stay accountable  to your budget, yourself and your money goals. (Also your spouse, if you’re married! And remember EveryDollar? You two can share an account so you’re budgeting as a team!) No secrets. No pretending a purchase didn’t happen.
• Keep from overspending,  because as you enter expenses, you see what you have left in every budget line! Instantly, you’ll know what’s left so you don’t overspend.
• Stay on top of the budget.  Your budget is not a set-it-and-forget-it project. It’s not a slow cooker. When you track transactions, you get in your budget all the time, and you can make adjustments so you know where your money is going—all the time.
• Learn and adjust your spending habits  so you can get back on track with your goals and finally make them happen. One monthly budget at a time.

Step 5: Make a New Budget Before the Month Begins

While your budget shouldn’t change too much from month to month, the fact is, no two months are exactly the same. That’s why you create a new  budget every single month —before the month begins. Then you can stare down certain expenses and say, “You will  not  be a surprise to my bank account, thank you very much.”

When you’re ready to start your next budget, just copy over this month’s budget to the next, and then make changes for anything new that’s coming.

Here are some examples of month-specific expenses to prep for:

• Celebrations like birthdays and anniversaries:  Never forget those.
• Holidays:  Do you need decor, gifts or a feast at the ready?
• Seasonal purchases:  Don’t forget to budget for  back-to-school season , fall coffee-flavor releases, and your spring kickball league.
• Semiannual expenses:  Do you pay your auto insurance twice a year? Do you need an oil change next month?
• Annual expenses:  Is it time for your yearly eye exam? Do you need to  budget for your pet to get his shots at the vet?

Here’s one way to handle getting these changing expenses into your budget:

• Create a budget category called something like Month-Specific Stuff or Alternating Expenses or Discretionary (if you like huge words).
• Then add whatever lines you need for  that month  and delete the ones from  last month  you no longer need.

Where does the money come from? You can cut back spending somewhere else and move that money over to this category. Taking $5–20 from a couple budget lines really adds up. Literally. Or if you can, crank up your income for the month. (Time for an extra freelance gig!)

Hey, if this part sounds complicated or clunky, that’s because it can be at the beginning. It takes people about three months to really get the hang of budgeting, so give yourself some grace and keep working on it! The benefits of budgeting will far outweigh the effort.

Why Making a Budget Is So Important

What are the benefits? Why is it worth it? Because when you budget, you’re telling your money where to go—so you don’t have to wonder where it went. You’re showing your money who’s in charge. (You.)

Budgeting is how you make any money goals happen—it’s how you make progress with your finances! It puts you in control. It gives you permission to spend your money  your  way.

I could go on and on and on because I honestly believe making a budget—and living that budgeting life—is one of the most important decisions you’ll make with your finances.

How to Make a Budget With Confidence

That’s it! That’s how to make a budget—and why you should. So, now it’s time to do it! It’s time to get confident with your money.

But what about being confident with budgeting? Hey, let  EveryDollar  help! This free tool makes budgeting easier, which is always a win. Download EveryDollar. Budget every month. You got this!

Save more. Spend better. Budget confidently.

Get EveryDollar: the free app that makes creating—and keeping—a budget simple . (Yes, please.)

Did you find this article helpful? Share it!

About the author

Rachel Cruze

Rachel Cruze is a #1 New York Times bestselling author, financial expert, and host of The Rachel Cruze Show. Rachel writes and speaks on personal finances, budgeting, investing and money trends. As a co-host of The Ramsey Show, America’s second-largest talk radio show, Rachel reaches millions of weekly listeners with her personal finance advice. She has appeared on Good Morning America and Fox News and has been featured in publications such as Time, Real Simple and Women’s Health magazines. Through her shows, books, syndicated columns and speaking events, Rachel shares fun, practical ways to take control of your money and create a life you love. Learn More.

How to Create a Zero-Based Budget

Zero-based budgeting is a method of budgeting where your income minus expenses equals zero. Follow these steps to make a zero-based budget each month.

How to Set Financial Goals: 6 Steps

Want to make more progress with your money? Setting the right financial goals is the first step!

Microsoft 365 Life Hacks > Budgeting > Making Your Monthly Budget: Tips and Techniques to Take to Control of Your Finances and Your Future

Making Your Monthly Budget: Tips and Techniques to Take to Control of Your Finances and Your Future

When you sit down to create a monthly budget, you’re not only organizing your money habits. A monthly budget is about much more than that. By breaking down your spending habits and behaviors, and creating a plan of action, you’re giving yourself a chance to control your finances and your future. Take these steps and use these tips to build a monthly budget that works for you—and meanwhile, you’ll see a strategy for enabling your ideal future begin to take shape.

How to Make a Monthly Budget

To craft your monthly budget, start with the budgeting basics . Follow these simple steps to get the ball rolling:

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• Calculate Your Monthly Income: Start with your monthly after-tax income or “take-home” pay as your spending limit for each month. If your income varies from month to month, use an average based on the last year or start with your low-earning month of that year as a baseline. Also be sure to include other sources of income like Social Security payments.
• Tally and Understand Your Monthly Expenses: Write down all of your expected monthly expenses, including your mortgage or rent, groceries, utilities, transportation, debts, and entertainment. As you’re tallying these expenses, make note of which ones might fluctuate from month to month, as well as which ones are fixed. For categories of spending that change over time, examine recent statements from your bank or credit card provider to estimate how much you tend to spend in these areas each month.
• Make Adjustments: Subtract your expenses from your income and see whether you are in the positive or negative. If your budgeted expenses are greater than your income, then you’ll need to identify areas where you can cut spending.

Monthly Budgeting Techniques and Goal-Setting

Even if your expenses are lower than your income, you’ll likely want to make some adjustments, too. Once you have more finalized income and expense numbers to work with, it’s time to work toward a sustainable plan that not only accounts for your spending but makes sure you’re doing that spending in the right places and on the right things for you. To help you do just that, use these techniques to help allocate your budget toward the right mixture of expenses.

Use Proportions

If you’re unsure of how to initially structure your budget in a way that leads to savings, some common budgeting systems might come in handy. The 50/30/20 rule is one of the most common—and straightforward—systems for monthly budgeting. Using this rule, you can aim to spend your money in the following fashion:

• 50% on Needs: Allocate half of your monthly after-tax income to your needs—things like rent or mortgage payments, groceries, and utilities.
• 30% on Wants: The next 30% of your spending goes toward your desires, the things that keep you happy. This should account for everything from nights on the town and takeout, to hobbies, leisure travel, and subscriptions.
• 20% on Savings and Debt Repayment: The remaining fifth of your monthly budget can then be allotted to repaying any outstanding debts (car payments, student loans, etc.) and to building up your savings—whether that’s a college savings or retirement plan, savings for a new home, or an emergency fund.

However, one drawback of the 50/30/20 rule is that some may struggle to clearly distinguish between some expenditures that are “wants” and “needs.” To simplify this, some budgeters instead use an 80/20 rule, where 80% is allocated toward both of these categories while the remainder is used for debt and savings. In yet another example of a proportional budgeting system, users of the 70/20/10 system cut their spending on wants and needs to 70% of their monthly budget, use 20% toward debt and personal savings, and a remaining 10% for long-term investments in things like retirement, college, and a new home.

Use an Envelope System

Even after you have your monthly budget categories outlined, it can be difficult to stick to them and always avoid overspending. A so-called envelope system can help you stick to your budget. Using your choice of cash and physical envelopes, a dedicated app like Goodbudget , or specific “sub-savings” accounts, this method calls for determining and maintaining strict spending limits on your various expense categories.

Whether your categories are as general as those in the 50/30/20 breakdown or include many more specific categories like “eating out” and “coffee breaks,” the envelope system requires you to draw money from the matching envelope or savings account. This way, you know that once you’ve run out of money in a given envelope, you must wait until the next month to spend any more on that item, activity, or category.

Account for Your Goals

A monthly budget that considers and reflects your own personal priorities isn’t just the right kind of budget—it’s the most sustainable one. No matter if you’re using a pre-set 50/30/20 system or your own personalized plan, be sure that it doesn’t just consider the present day-to-day but also your future. If you have your sights set on a future dream home, a new car, or a special trip next summer, factor incremental savings toward these aspirations into your monthly plan. Using a target amount and date, you can calculate just how much you need to spend and save each month to meet your goals over time.

Budgeting Tips to Make Yours a Success

Mastering your monthly budget will take some time and plenty of effort. Use these budgeting tips to help make your journey toward a working budget a much smoother one.

Get Some Help from Technology

While you might opt for an old-fashioned paper envelope system, in our digital age, there are countless budgeting apps that you can use to keep track of your spending. Apps like Mint offer a free, one-stop-shop for custom budgeting and tracking spending, while zero-based budgeting apps like EveryDollar help you put each cent of yours toward something specific.

Meanwhile, spreadsheets in Microsoft Excel and Google Sheets offer endlessly customizable ways to track your spending, your way. And you don’t need to be an accountant or Excel whiz to do so—pre-made budgeting templates are available to make it an easier process.

Make Space for Surprises

At the end of the day, no budget is ever going to be all-encompassing. After all, life is full of surprises; so ensure that your budget includes a category for surprise expenses or for savings toward an emergency fund that can help cover them. Here, the worst case—that you don’t have any surprises in a given month—is the best case. Any unused funds in this category can be put toward your savings or put to use elsewhere.

Stick with It

Just as no budget is perfect, no budget is ever final. Income, expenses, and aspirations all change as time goes by. Set time aside each month to adapt your budget and see that it’s still the best it can be. In the meantime, you can lean on more of our useful budgeting resources that help you make sure your budget, your finances, and your future are in your control.

Get started on your budget with the Personal Monthly Budget spreadsheet .

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Budget Planning and Budgeting Lessons

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Teaching Special Needs - Adult Education - Budgeting for Kids - Children - Young Adults

Our Budgeting section delivers an array of educational tools. Dive into our collection that comprises lesson plans, printable worksheets, instructive videos, detailed articles, and more. Our lesson plans and printable worksheets are crafted to guide educators in imparting knowledge about the principles of budgeting and the importance of financial planning. Tailored to fit various learning environments, these resources are adaptable for both group lessons and self-paced studies. Our instructive videos provide a vibrant approach to understanding budgeting, bringing to life the nuances of financial planning with compelling animations and lucid breakdowns of intricate topics. Meanwhile, our detailed articles delve into the finer points of budgeting, offering expert commentary and profound insights into managing personal finances effectively. Whether you're a visual learner, a reading enthusiast, or someone in search of structured lessons, the Budgeting section of Money Instructor is equipped with resources to ensure you grasp the essentials of financial planning and lead a financially sound life.

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Best free personal monthly budget template

Much of the anxiety around budgeting your money can be reduced with a little proactivity, persistence, and the right budgeting template.

In this article, we’ll introduce you to a variety of monthly budgeting spreadsheets, worksheets, and planners that can help you in your budgeting journey. We’ll also take a look at monday.com’s personal monthly budget template.

Get the template

What is a personal monthly budget template?

A personal monthly budget template helps you plan your spending. It lets you compare your budgeted expenses and income versus your actual expenses and income. And most importantly, a monthly budgeting template provides a bird’s eye view of your current financial situation.

Generally, a personal budget template splits your income and expenses into categories like:

• Income: Wages, tips, capital gains, bonuses
• Expenses: Food, transportation, medical, utility, debt, pet, and variable expenses

Budget templates also add these individual amounts together, showing you what you’re spending and earning in each individual category.

Download Excel template

Why use a personal monthly budget template?

Now that you’ve got a handle on what a budget template is, let’s look at a few of the benefits of using one.

Helps you track minor details

A budget is only as good as the data it contains. By tracking your expenses and income in a professional template, it’s a lot easier to keep track of minor details.

Without a budget template, minor or variable expenses may fall through the cracks and not be accounted for. And these minor expenses add up. For that reason, you won’t have a true representation of your financial health and you could be missing valuable information that can help you make better-informed decisions.

Visualize your budget

Preparing a monthly budget is essential for anyone looking to gain more control of their personal finances. A well-crafted budget can help you save money, pay down debt, and achieve other financial goals. Having all your income and expenses in one place makes it easier to see day-to-day or week-to-week.

For example, if you’re overspending in a particular category, you’ll be able to see it right away. On the flip side, if you’re under-budgeting in another area, you can make adjustments that better reflect your spending habits.

Plus, most monthly budget templates come with options to graph or chart your data over time, giving you an easy-to-digest visual representation of your finances.

Aids in long-term financial goal planning

Your monthly budget isn’t just a snapshot of your current financial situation — it can also be a tool for long-term goal planning .

For instance, if you’re trying to save up for a down payment on a house, you can create a budget that allocates a certain percentage of your income toward your goal each month. And if you have debt you’re trying to pay off — you can use your budget as a roadmap for how to get rid of it. A monthly budget also lets you see how your spending fits into your annual budget.

What are some examples of a personal monthly budget?

There are various kinds of monthly budgets with different applications. Here are some examples of how you might use a personal monthly budget.

Google monthly budget sheet

There are many different Google Sheets budget templates out there. This monthly budget worksheet is easy to use and lets you track your monthly expenses and income across a variety of budget categories.

Like most others, it has a summary page that shows your “planned” and “actual” income and expenses, as well as a “difference” column that shows you how over or under budget you were in that particular category.

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If you like working with spreadsheets and you only need a simple tool for your personal or household budget, a Google Sheets template is a workable option. But if you want something with a little more firepower, monday.com has you covered — more on that soon.

50/30/20 personal monthly budget template

The 50/30/20 budget is a popular budgeting strategy. The idea behind it is that you should allocate 50% of your income toward needs, 30% toward wants, and 20% toward savings and debt repayment.

The 50/30/20 budget is great for people who want to be more mindful of their spending but prefer a simple and flexible budget. If you’ve never followed a budget before or struggled to follow one in the past, try the 50/30/20 budget.

The beauty in a 50/30/20 budget is that it’s simple. All you do is calculate your after-tax income and split it into three categories:

• 50% to needs: Mortgage/rent, utilities, food, etc.
• 30% to wants: Dining out, entertainment, etc.
• 20% to debt/savings: Retirement, student loans, credit cards, etc.

From there, categorize expenses and track them regularly. As long as you stay within your overall percentages every month, you’re good to go. Note that the percentage split is just a guideline. Your finances may work out to 55/25/20 or 60/30/10 based on your income and location.

Student personal monthly budget

For some students, attending higher education or living away from home may be the first time you are faced with the need to budget or manage finances. Tuition, books, room and board and everyday expenses like food and transportation are just some examples of what could be in your budget.

That’s where a student-specific budget calculator can come in handy. It comes pre-loaded with typical student expenses, and some even recommended percentages to allocate for each expense category.

A student budget template can make the process a little easier with a complete overview of your finances.

Now that you’re familiar with a few kinds of personal monthly budget templates, let’s dive into how our template can simplify your monthly budgeting process.

monday.com’s personal monthly budget template

Our personal monthly budget template is a fully customizable solution that will help you make sense of your money, regardless of how complicated your budgeting needs may be. Powered by monday.com Work OS — a digital platform for getting work done — our budgeting template comes with a variety of features to help make budgeting a pain-free and worthwhile habit. For example, with monday.com, you can:

Set reminders

Using automation, you can set reminders so you don’t forget to pay your credit card bill, or worse, your student loans.

Highlight important information

Automatically highlight information — like when you’re over budget on an item — using Conditional Coloring. You can also color-code different information and create custom labels to help important data stand out.

Interpret data using formulas

Perform simple or complex calculations on your budget data to better understand where your money is going.

The monday.com personal monthly budget template is a lifesaver if you’re new to budgeting and a dynamic asset if you’re a seasoned pro.

Personal monthly budget tips & tricks

Managing your monthly budget is no easy feat. But with a little know-how and some helpful tips, you can make it work for you. Here are a few budgeting tips to get you started:

Let yourself fail

If you’re a budgeting newbie, your first few monthly budgets will probably be a disaster. And that’s perfectly okay because no one nails budgeting the first time around.

Instead of beating yourself up because your budget flew off the rails, try to see your setbacks as learning experiences:

• What went wrong?
• Why did you overspend in a particular category?
• How can you fix it next month?

The more you experiment with budgeting, the better you’ll get at it. So don’t be afraid to let yourself fail — it’s all part of the process.

Make a plan

If you want to save money, you need to have a plan. Decide how much money you want to save each month and come up with a strategy to make it happen. If you want a simplified approach, use the 50/30/20 budget.

Use a budget template

If you’re not sure how to create a budget, there are plenty of templates out there to help get you started. monday.com’s completely free personal monthly budget template is a great place to start.

The most important thing about a monthly budget is to find a budgeting strategy that works for you and stick with it. Personal monthly budget templates can make the process a little easier, but ultimately it’s up to you to make it work.

FAQs about personal monthly budget templates

How do i create a personal monthly budget.

You can create a monthly budget in as little as five easy steps:

• Spend about two or three months recording your monthly income and expenses.
• Separate your income and expenses into categories, such as “salary” and “dividends” for income and “mortgage/rent” and “utilities” for expenses.
• Think of any financial goals you want to achieve, such as paying off your credit card or saving for a vacation.
• Assign dollar amounts for your income, expenses, and financial goals, and populate a budgeting template with this information.
• Track your spending and make adjustments as required.

How do I create a personal monthly budget in Excel?

If you want to create a personal monthly budget in Excel, follow these steps:

• Enter your monthly income and expenses into two separate columns.
• Create headings for each category of income and expense.
• Enter formulas in the appropriate cells to calculate your budgeted amounts.
• Format the budget spreadsheet to make it easy for you to read.

If you want a faster way, you can export our template as a fully functional Excel template.

Does Excel have a personal budget template?

Yes, Excel has several personal monthly budgets. To find them in the Microsoft 365 version, open Excel, click “New,” enter “personal monthly budget” in the search bar and choose one of the available templates. However, if you want a more flexible budget spreadsheet, monday.com’s personal monthly budget template might be a better choice, as it allows for more customization options, including automated reminders and color-coding.

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Budgeting Worksheets for Students

Check out these great worksheets to help you teach your students about budgeting!

Budgeting is a critical skill in personal finance, and the more practice your students get in making a budget, the better. Teachers and homeschoolers will encounter a variety of resources to teach this concept, but worksheets are a proven way to give your kids hands-on, practical experience. Here are the best budgeting worksheets for students.

K-5 Budgeting Worksheets

Your younger students can understand how budgets work and apply that knowledge with these worksheets.

• Build Your Own Budget: This worksheet breaks down costs into wants and needs and includes a section on long-term goals. ( 2 nd – 8 th Grade)
• Monthly Budget Worksheet For Kids: This worksheet is excellent for young students to give them a basic idea of how a budget works, with only a few rows to fill out. ( K – 5 th Grade)
• Save, Spend, Share Worksheet: This budgeting worksheet for kids tracks the amounts they put into their Save, Spend, and Share jars, showing them a direct connection between money and budgets. ( K – 5 th Grade)
• Financial Logs For Kids: This worksheet pack gives kids three ways to track their budgets and shows them the different components involved in planning monthly. ( K – 5 th Grade)
• Christmas Budget: This worksheet shows students a specific way to budget and track costs, using holiday gifts as an example. ( K – 5 th Grade)

6th – 8th Grade Budgeting Worksheets

Middle school children can learn money-saving strategies to keep sample budgets in line.

• Kid’s Money Budget Worksheet: This worksheet provides students with an intuitive and user-friendly interface, helping them become expert budgeters. ( 5 th – 12 th Grade)
• Budget Basics: This worksheet includes a scenario that shows students how to budget for a specific purchase (a car) and how to break savings down monthly. ( 6 th – 8 th Grade)
• The Art of Budgeting: In this extensive worksheet , students need to list various goals, understand how a hypothetical spender budgets, and create their own budgets. ( 7 th – 8 th Grade)
• Monthly Budget Worksheet: This worksheet lets students plan their budgets or plug in numbers to a sample budget to see how the process works (scroll to the bottom for the worksheet). ( 6 th – 8th Grade)
• Budgeting For A Fun Day With A Friend: This worksheet breaks down a single day’s budget, showing students that they can adjust their plans and create budgets for various time periods. ( 6 th -8 th Grade)

9th – 12th Grade Budgeting Worksheets

High schoolers may already have an income or know the potential numbers they can plug in for future careers. They can use this data to form their budgets and see how careful planning is essential.

• Budgeting Your Money: This worksheet is part of a broader lesson and has students track their income and expenses over a month to see how they spend. ( 9 th – 12 th Grade)
• My Own Budget: Students develop their unique budgets in this worksheet , representing their expenses and income as percentages in pie charts and lists. ( 10 th – 12 th Grade)
• Budget Busters: Students analyze a case study in this worksheet to see how the sample budget could be fixed and then use percentages to calculate their budgets. ( 9 th -12 th Grade)
• Teen Budget Worksheet: This worksheet shows kids how to input income and expenses and automatically performs the calculations for them. ( 9 th -12 th Grade)
• Monthly Budget: This worksheet splits expenses into categories so that students understand the main spending areas and how to budget for them. ( 9 th -12 th Grade)
• Making A Budget: This worksheet lets students pick a “roommate” to keep costs down, enter entry-level job numbers, and develop a plan for the future. ( 9 th -12 th Grade)
• Budgeting Activity: This worksheet requires students to determine the expenses of living independently, seeing how much it may cost to have their own place and transportation. ( 11 th -12 th Grade)
• Monthly Budget Worksheet: This worksheet comes in PDF or Excel, letting students fill in budget items and determine if they can stay within their budgets. ( 8 th -12 th Grade)
• Can You Afford It? This worksheet has students weigh income and expenses, showing them how to calculate costs and stay within their means. ( 6 th -12 th Grade)
• Dinner Preparation On A Budget: This worksheet lets students budget for a dinner party, showing them how to balance expenses and learn about opportunity costs. ( 8 th -12 th Grade)

Visit our teaching budgeting center for more lesson plans and other resources to help teach your students about this wonderful life skill!

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Complete personal budget in Google spreadsheets (example above)

• Monthly Budget. Authored by : Kelsey Smith. Located at : https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1NTvRdI0LHppatkHgt9TTTrzC1aW1IGQcZDHtEBvw8L8/edit#gid=0 . License : CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike

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25 Meaningful Saving and Budgeting Activities for High School Students

Teach teens financial fitness now so they have a prosperous future.

If we let students graduate high school without learning key skills like saving and budgeting, we’re doing them a real disservice. These budgeting activities are terrific for a life-skills class, morning meeting discussion, or advisory group unit. Give teens the knowledge they need to make smart financial choices now and in the future.

Classroom Saving and Budgeting Activities

Try the Jellybean Game

Before you get into the nitty-gritty of numbers, start with this clever activity that gives kids practice allocating assets in a low-stakes way. They’ll use jellybeans to decide what they need, want, and can truly afford.

Learn more: The Jellybean Game at Pretty Providence

Use budget-planning worksheets

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has developed lots of tools to help teens and adults learn to manage money. Show kids how to use their Income Tracker, Spending Tracker, Bill Calendar, and Budget Worksheet (all at the link below). Start by having kids consider their current financial situation. Then, give them hypothetical “adult” situations to plan for, with income and expenses drawn from typical people in your area.

Learn more: Budgeting Worksheet Tools at CFPB

Create a buying plan

This activity encourages kids to think about purchases, especially major ones. Saving money is just one part of the process—they also need to consider what makes a good purchase, and whether they should pay up front or borrow the money instead.

Learn more: Create a Buying Plan at CFPB

Practice grocery shopping

Most kids probably have no idea how much groceries cost. Use grocery store websites to your advantage, and have kids take a virtual “shopping trip.” They can plan meals and determine what they’ll need to buy. Or have them start with a weekly food budget and work backwards from there. Either way, remind them to make sure their menus include healthy options.

Learn more: Make a Healthy Grocery List at WebMD

Build a savings “first-aid kit”

It’s no secret that things can and do go wrong. Budgeting activities like this one help students learn what to do when unexpected expenses crop up. Students learn about real-world costs and come up with ways to save in advance and adjust on the fly.

Learn more: Savings “First Aid Kit” at CFPB

Discover what jobs actually pay

Ask students to list some jobs they think they’d like to do someday. Then, have them research average salaries for those jobs. Encourage them to factor in where they plan to live (salary ranges can be dramatically different across the country). Plus, ask them to think about the education they’ll need to land those jobs, and how long it will take them to earn the money to pay back any loans they’ll have to take.

Learn more: Job Salaries by Field at Career Profiles

Find out how credit cards work

These days, most people pay with plastic instead of cash. Sometimes they use debit cards, but often they’re credit cards. If you’re going to use them, you need to know how they work. Divide your class into groups, and ask each to research a different question about credit cards, like how they work, what interest they charge, and how to use them safely.

Learn more: Credit Card Basics at Money Under 30

Experiment with different budget models

There’s no one right way to set up a budget. Expose students to a variety of models, like proportional budgets, the “pay yourself first” model, the envelope budget, and more. Ask them to think about which kind of person each model works best for, and which one they’d choose.

Learn more: 6 Different Budgeting Methods at Young Adult Money

Explore Budgeting Apps

Teens are usually pretty attached to their phones, so show them one way to make really good use of screen time: budgeting apps. Learn how to choose a good one in this video.

Calculate compound interest

When you invest your money in an interest-bearing account, it earns money just by sitting there! That money can really grow over time too. Have students complete budgeting activities like looking up current interest rates and then calculating the potential interest from using those accounts for short and long periods of time. Explore local bank offerings, and take into account things like fees too.

Learn more: Compound Interest Calculator at Investor.gov

Learn what “living expenses” means

Kids generally don’t think about all the costs of daily living. Start by brainstorming a big list as a class of all the things people need to spend money on each month: rent or mortgage, car payments, credit card payments, food, entertainment, utilities, internet access, and more. Break kids into groups and have each group research the average costs of those items in your area. Come back together as a class and add up their findings to see what “living expenses” can really be.

Learn more: Monthly Expenses at Inspired Budget

Get a reality check

Everybody’s got dreams, but how realistic are they? That’s where the Jump$tart Reality Check program comes in. By making choices about the future they want, teens will learn what they’ll need to earn to make it happen. The answers might really surprise them.

Learn more: Jump$tart Reality Check

Reflect on needs vs. wants

Ask students to reflect on what they truly need to survive vs. things that just make life easier or more fun. Budgeting activities like this can help them identify items they can eliminate when funds get really tight.

Learn more: Needs vs. Wants at CFPB

Learn to protect your money

If teens don’t learn smart skills like avoiding phishing scams, how to choose good passwords, or identifying fraudulent sites, they can lose everything they save. Take time to learn about the most common fraud issues, and teach them how to be responsible online.

Learn more: 8 Ways To Protect Your Money That All Students Should Know

Savings and Budgeting Online Games

How Not to Suck at Money

The title pretty much says at it all: by playing this game, students learn how to manage their money and use it responsibly.

Learn more: How to Not Suck at Money

The Uber Game

Let students imagine life as an Uber driver. This game is based on actual Uber driver experiences and can be a real eye-opener.

Learn more: The Uber Game

Hit the Road

Think of this like Oregon Trail for the modern age. A group of friends is setting off on a cross-country trip, but they’ve got to manage their funds to get where they want to go. Try this one as a group activity so kids have to work together to make smart choices.

Learn more: Hit the Road

Budgeting and saving is important, but students should also learn about the importance of having the right kind of insurance. Because sometimes, l ife reall is just a bummer.

Learn more: Bummer

College-bound kids might figure they’ll take loans now and figure out how to pay them back later, but do they really have a handle on the true costs? These interesting online simulations let you pick your school, then walk through four years of potential expenses and income opportunities to find out how you fare in the end.

Learn more: Payback

Misadventures in Money Management

This online game feels a bit like a graphic novel, and it helps kids learn the basics of budgeting and money management. Explore multiple topics and complete missions to learn valuable skills.

Learn more: Misadventures in Money Management

Lights, Camera, Budget!

Managing your own money can feel a little dull, so why not try your hand at managing a multi-million dollar movie budget instead? This one has levels for both middle and high school students, too.

Learn more: Lights, Camera, Budget!

Living on the financial edge is a sad reality for so many people. Show kids what that can feel like with this online simulation. When the game starts, you have no housing and no job, and just $1,000 in the bank. Can you get a job and make it to the end of the month?

Learn more: Spent

Claim Your Future

This cool online game assigns you a career (or lets you choose one) and tailors your experience to your location. You get to make choices about housing and other expenses, and the game calculates how those things fit into a responsible budget.

Learn more: Claim Your Future

The Biggest Bang For Your Buck

This online game guides kids through a shopping trip, with financial literacy questions along the way. It’s simple but a terrific way to introduce a discussion on spending, saving, and budgeting.

Learn more: The Biggest Bang for Your Buck

For kids who are sure they can make enough money to live on with their social media accounts, this game might be a bit of a reality check.

Learn more: Influenc’d

Budgeting activities are just the start! Check out these Life Skills Every Teen Should Learn .

Plus, get all the best teaching tips and ideas straight to your inbox when you sign up for our free newsletters , you might also like.

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12 Fun Budgeting Activities PDFs for Students (Kids & Teens)

By: Author Amanda L. Grossman

Posted on Last updated: March 27, 2023

Looking for fun budgeting activities PDFs? You'll love this collection of budgeting scenarios for high school students, and money management worksheets for students (PDFs).

Teaching students how to budget doesn't have to be a drag, especially if you do it through fun budgeting activities.

But, have you noticed how difficult it is to find GOOD, fun budgeting activities with PDFs?

After spending a few hours scouring the internet, searching for the best FREE options out there, I've now become aware of the problem.

Still, there are some good options you should know about (plus, I'm releasing my own — for free!). 

Fun budgeting activities (with PDFs) and money management worksheets for students are two of the best ways to teach your kids and teens about money. 

Article Content

Budgeting Scenarios for High School Students (PDFs to Print)

I'd like to start this list off with my own budgeting scenarios I created for high school students (parents, you can use these, too!). 

This budgeting worksheet for students (pdf) was originally part of my Money Prodigy Online Summer Camp, but I'm carving it out for you to use, for free.

Here's how this works:  

Your child uses a fortune teller (free printable) to determine which one of 4 Avatars they are. The avatars have both a female and a male name, but the information is the same — so it doesn't matter if a boy or a girl gets that avatar. 

They read up on their salary information, budgeting information, and general financial information. Each avatar is at a different stage in their career, and in a different stage of life (so lots of possibilities to play several rounds of this). 

They fill in a budgeting sheet based on the information they've been given.

Then, the simulation really begins. They take a turn with the fortune teller again, which spits out a a real-life scenario. Once they figure out what their new situation is, they need to deal with it within their current budget constraints.

Your students then fill in follow-up questions and information about how things went for them. 

Other resources for you:

• How to Teach Budgeting (from Beginner to Advanced Levels)
• 6 Budgeting Projects for Middle School Students
• 4 Budget Projects for High School Students
• 11 Teenage Budgeting Tips
• How a Teenager Can Improve their Budget
• Prom Budget Planner

Alright…let's move onto many more fun budgeting activities with PDFs and financial scenarios for students. 

Fun Budgeting Activities (with PDFs)

Fun budgeting activities (PDFs you can print) will not only begin teaching your students and kids how to budget for specific events OR for life, in general, but it will make the process entertaining. 

Heck, your kids might beg for more money activities after you introduce a few of these fun budgeting activities below. 

Psst: you might want to check out my comprehensive article on budgeting for kids , and the best teen budget worksheets .

#1: Next Gen Personal Finance’s Bean Game

Suggested Age Range: Not given.

I just love this – every student receives 20 beans, as well as a game board that shows a cost (in beans) for different spending and saving categories. Students must decide how to spend their 20 beans across all categories.

What might trip your students up? There are starred categories that are “musts”, so your student has to spend some beans in those.

In midway through, if you want to really shake things up, the creators of this game suggest telling your students that they’ve been demoted or downsized at work and now only have 13 beans – they must remove 7 beans from their boards.

This is an individual activity, but can easily be used in groups of 2 as well.

#2: ConsumerFinance.gov’s Bouncing Ball Budgets

Suggested Age Range: 13-19 years

What I like about this spending activity is it has a physical component. Meaning, kids get into a group and throw a ball to one another. The number that is closest to their right index finger (the ball has numbers on it) corresponds to a question about spending habits.

The student then has 30 seconds to answer the question, which will help them analyze their own spending habits.

Example questions include:

• Give an example of a big expense you’ve had to save money for.
• Give an example of why you might call yourself a saver or a spender.
• What do you find hard to resist spending money on?

#3: Design Mom's Teen Budgeting Game

Suggested Age Range: For teenagers. 

In just an hour of play, your students and teens can go through 12 months on a budget. New challenges are thrown there way for each month, such as being fined for a traffic ticket, or earning an extra $5 in interest on savings.

Teens are given $300 each (remember, this is a game, not the real world!), and must satisfy 9 different budgeting categories ranging from rent to movies. 

Free printables include:  

• Budget Worksheet
• Banker’s Instructions
• Explanation of “Budget Options”

The goal of the game, or how to win? Is to end the game with $450 in savings PLUS a “Well Being” Factor of 96 or higher. 

Psst: Here's more budget games for kids and teens to check out. Also, here's 19 free financial literacy games for high school students .

#4: Scholastic's Trip-Planning Simulation

Suggested Age Range: Grades 6-8

Take your students through a trip-planning simulation to teach them how to budget for something. Scholastic provides free printables, including: 

• Project Outline: Going On Vacation printable
• Calculating Vacation Costs Worksheet 

Part of your prep is coming up with a list of 6 different resorts they can choose from. Students then must come up with both distance and costs when planning a trip to one of those locations, all while staying within the $4,500 budget they have.  

#5: Jump$tart’s Reality Check Activity

A fun activity to kick-off money lessons or a money unit would be to have your students go through this Reality Check calculator.

They get to answer various questions (there are only 10) about the type of lifestyle they want to live, and then fill out estimated amounts they think they’ll spend each month for specific budget categories.

Then the “reality” kicks in when they see what kind of income they’ll have to maintain in order to live that lifestyle.

Suggestion: perhaps you can set this reality check game up on computers as a transition activity for students, OR, as one of your various money centers for the day.

#6: McKinney’s PlaySpent.org

Here’s an interesting budgeting game for students to play, that will also increase their awareness of how hard it can be to survive without a job.

They are given the scenario that they are down to their last $1,000 since losing their job. The object of this game is to use that $1,000 as wisely as possible so that they can live with it over one month.

#7: FinanceintheClassroom.org’s Investigation of Regional Housing Costs

Suggested Age Range: Grades 10-12

What I love about this budgeting scenario is that they actually created it – I’ve been talking about how important it is to research cost of living before moving or accepting a job offer somewhere for years.

Mostly because, I’ve had personal experience from it! In my mid-20s, I took a job in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. While I learned a lot at the job (I was eventually laid off from it), the fact is, I didn’t save any money (outside of retirement) during those almost two years because the cost of living was just too high.

With this budgeting scenario, students are asked to look at the finances and situation of Trish and Scott who want to move from Annapolis, MD to somewhere else for a job offer.

Students then must analyze the housing costs for one of their new job offers and see if they can or cannot afford to accept the job and move there.

Such a valuable financial lesson to learn young (especially since because young adults are least able to afford high-cost-of-living areas).

#8: Sarah and Jessica's Jelly Bean Game

Group students together in sizes of 2-4, and hand them 20 jelly beans in total (tell them not to eat them!). The group then collectively decides how they'd like to spend those 20 jelly beans, based on money values, spending needs vs. wants , etc. 

For each round they go through, they'll deal with different scenarios, such as someone's leg breaking (did they choose to spend on insurance?), or getting a raise at work.  

Now, let's move onto money management worksheets. 

#9: Budgeting a Trip in Rural Setting Vs. City Setting

ConsumerFinance.gov has these two lesson plans that are exactly the same…except where the students plan a trip to: rural or a city location.

I say, why not take this a step further and show your students one aspect of cost-of-living by having them budget out BOTH a trip to a rural setting AND a trip to a city setting ?

Then, they can compare the costs of each and discuss why one is (most likely) costlier than the other.

Money Management Worksheets for Students (with PDFs)

I love that you're looking for money management worksheets for your students — it means you care about their money future!

After hours of research, I've curated a list of free printable money management worksheets (available in PDF format, so you can easily print them out), that, in my opinion, are the best available.

#1: Practical Money Skill’s The Art of Budgeting

Suggested Age Range: 14-18 years

What I specifically like about this lesson is the “Rework a Budget” section, found on Page 11.

Students are given the chance to budget for a girl named Gabrielle. And then, they’re asked to rework the budget once her month actually played out – which is such a great lesson because, let’s face it, planned budgets and planned spending is often not what happens in real life.

Yet, you want to teach students to learn early on that just because your planned spending and your actual spending aren’t the same, doesn’t mean you should give up on budgeting.

Instead, rework it! They’ll get better and better with doing that, the more they budget.

#2: Second Harvest Food Bank’s Shopping on a Budget Activity

I don’t know that I would call this budgeting activity fun , but eye-opening? For sure.

This budgeting activity for students attempts to bring awareness to how difficult it can be to feed your family nutritious food on a low budget.

#3: ConsumerFinance.gov’s Create a Savings First Aid Kit

One of the most valuable parts of this activity is having students complete the simple acts of:

• Brainstorming possible unexpected expenses that pop up in life
• Determine if those expenses are an emergency, or not

Simple, but effective.

I hope you've found some awesome fun budgeting activities, budgeting worksheets for students, and budget scenario activities you're going to give a try with your own students and kids. Let me know how it goes in the comments below!

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Amanda L. Grossman

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Budget & accounting

Ensuring teams and programs throughout your organization are on budget can feel like wrangling cats. That’s why we’ve pulled together resources, including guides, templates, and expert insights to help you ensure your bottom line stays intact.

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