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Spreadsheet · UK monthly budget

A UK budget spreadsheet for Excel and Google Sheets

Monthly budget, spending log, bills tracker and sinking funds in one file, built around how UK households are paid and billed.

UK Budget Spreadsheet for Excel and Google Sheets: monthly budget, bills and pots tabs

A budget built around a UK pay day

Set a plan for each of 31 budget lines, list your direct debits once, and log what you spend as you go. The spreadsheet does the rest: plan against actual for every month, what is left to spend, which bills leave in the next seven days, and how much to put aside for Christmas. It is £3.59 on Etsy.

Get the budget spreadsheet on EtsyPrefer paper? The Budget Journal

The seven tabs

  • Start Here: take-home pay, pay day, savings target, and this month at a glance.
  • Monthly Budget: 31 UK lines in seven groups, plan against actual for all twelve months. Lines over plan turn red.
  • Spending Log: 1,000 rows with a category drop-down. Each spend lands in the right month by itself.
  • Bills: every direct debit once, monthly, quarterly or annual, with the next due date and the total leaving this week.
  • Pots: sinking funds with a target and a date; it works out the monthly amount.
  • Monthly Check-in: two minutes at month end. Score "kept to the plan" from 1 to 5, and note one change for next month.
  • Year Verdict: the year in numbers, the line that ran most over plan, and the one rule you keep next year.
Monthly Budget tab: plan against actual for UK budget lines, over-plan lines in red

How to budget monthly, in five steps

  1. Start from take-home pay, not salary: what actually lands on pay day.
  2. List every bill once. Annual ones too: car tax, insurance, the TV licence. These are what break budgets.
  3. Divide the big annual costs by twelve and move that into a pot each month.
  4. Log spending as it happens, or once a day from your banking app. A week of honest records beats a perfect plan.
  5. Check in once a month. Compare the plan with what happened, change one thing, and carry on.
Pots tab: sinking funds for Christmas, the car and birthdays with a monthly amount to put aside

UK Budget Spreadsheet on Etsy (£3.59)

An organising tool, not financial advice. Free, impartial help: MoneyHelper (moneyhelper.org.uk), Citizens Advice, and StepChange for debt. Example figures in the images are made up. Spreadsheet built with AI assistance and checked by hand.

Questions

Does it work in Google Sheets?

Yes. It is a standard .xlsx file: open it in Excel, import it into Google Sheets (File, Import, Upload), or open it in Apple Numbers. It works on a laptop, tablet or phone.

Why a UK budget spreadsheet?

Most templates are built for American weekly paychecks. This one assumes one take-home pay a month, direct debits on fixed days, and UK lines such as council tax, the TV licence, car tax and Christmas already filled in.

Do I have to type every total?

No. You type only in the pale yellow cells: your plan, your bills and each spend in the Spending Log. Everything else is formulas: each spend lands in the right month, and any line that goes over plan turns red.

What are pots or sinking funds?

Money set aside each month for a big cost you know is coming: Christmas, car insurance, birthdays. The Pots tab takes the target and the date and tells you how much to put aside each month.

Is this financial advice?

No. It is an organising tool. For free, impartial money guidance use MoneyHelper or Citizens Advice, and for debt worries StepChange.