How to Make a Monthly Budget in Excel

To make a monthly budget in Excel, list your income at the top and total it with SUM. Below that, list your expense categories with three columns: Budget, Actual and Difference. Then subtract total expenses from total income to see what’s left. Add conditional formatting so overspent categories turn red, and you have a working budget in about 20 minutes. For automatic totals, log each purchase on a second sheet and let SUMIFS add them up by category. Here’s how to build it step by step.

Step 1: Set up the income section

1. In A1, type a title, such as October 2026 Budget.
2. In A3, type Income. In row 4, add the headings Source (A4), Budget (B4) and Actual (C4).
3. List each income source in rows 5 to 7, for example Salary, Side work and Other.
4. In A8, type Total income. In B8, type =SUM(B5:B7), and copy it to C8.

Step 2: Set up the expense categories

1. In A10, type Expenses. In row 11, add Category, Budget, Actual and Difference in A11 to D11.
2. List your categories from row 12 down. Common ones are Rent or mortgage, Utilities, Groceries, Transport, Insurance, Phone and internet, Subscriptions, Eating out, Savings and Other.
3. Type the planned amount for each category in column B.
4. In D12, type =B12-C12 and copy it down. A positive number means you’re under budget.
5. Below the last category, add Total expenses with =SUM(B12:B23) in column B, copied to C and D (adjust the range to your rows).

Treat savings as an expense category. “Paying yourself first” makes it more likely to happen.

Step 3: Calculate what’s left

Under the expenses, add a row called Left over:

• Planned: =B8-B24 (total income budget minus total expense budget).
• Actual: =C8-C24.

Replace B24 and C24 with your total-expenses row. If the planned figure is negative, adjust your categories until it’s zero or positive.

Step 4: Make it easy to read

• Select the amounts and apply Currency or Comma Style on the Home tab. See how to apply the comma style number format.
• Highlight overspending: select the Difference cells, go to Home > Conditional Formatting > Highlight Cells Rules > Less Than, type 0, and choose a red fill.
• Add a % of income column with =C12/$C$8, formatted as a percentage, to see where your money goes.
• Insert a chart: select the categories and Actual column, then choose Insert > Pie or Bar.

Not sure how much to budget? Try 50/30/20

A popular starting point splits take-home pay into three groups: about 50% for needs (housing, utilities, groceries, insurance), 30% for wants (eating out, hobbies, subscriptions), and 20% for savings and paying down debt. To check your budget against it, add a Group column with Needs, Wants or Savings for each category, then total each group with =SUMIF(E12:E23,"Needs",B12:B23)/B8. Treat the percentages as a guide, not a rule. Housing costs alone take more than half of income in many areas.

Step 5: Track spending automatically with a transaction log

Typing totals into the Actual column works, but logging each purchase is more accurate.

1. Add a sheet named Transactions with the columns Date, Description, Category and Amount. Press Ctrl + T to make it a table.
2. Add a category drop-down: select the Category column, go to Data > Data Validation > List, and select the category names from the budget sheet. See how to categorize data in Excel with drop-downs.
3. On the budget sheet, replace each Actual figure with =SUMIFS(Transactions!D:D,Transactions!C:C,A12) and copy it down.

Now every transaction you add updates the budget automatically. To total only one month, add date conditions: =SUMIFS(Transactions!D:D,Transactions!C:C,A12,Transactions!A:A,">="&DATE(2026,10,1),Transactions!A:A,"<"&DATE(2026,11,1)). For more on this, see how to use SUMIF in Excel.

If your bank lets you download transactions, you can paste them straight into the log. See how to convert a bank statement to Excel.

Step 6: Reuse it every month

• Right-click the sheet tab, choose Move or Copy, tick Create a copy, and rename it for the next month. Clear the Actual column, and keep the Budget column.
• Or lay out 12 month columns across the sheet, with a yearly total in the last column.
• Save the file to OneDrive so you can update it from your phone. See how to make an Excel spreadsheet live.

Prefer a template?

Go to File > New and search for budget. Microsoft’s free templates include personal monthly budgets, family budgets and expense trackers. You can start from one and customize the categories.

Budgeting tips

• Base your first budget on what you actually spent in the last two or three months.
• Include irregular costs, such as car repairs, gifts and annual subscriptions, by budgeting a monthly amount toward them.
• Review the Difference column at the end of each month and adjust next month’s budget.
• To predict future spending, see how to do a forecast in Excel.

Summary

1. List income and total it with SUM.
2. List expense categories with Budget, Actual and Difference columns.
3. Subtract total expenses from income, and highlight overspending in red.
4. Log transactions on a second sheet and use SUMIFS to fill in the actual figures automatically.

Related: How to Make an Attendance Sheet in Excel.

Related: how to calculate compound interest in Excel.

Matt Jacobs

Matt Jacobs has been working as an IT consultant for small businesses since receiving his Master’s degree in 2003. While he still does some consulting work, his primary focus now is on creating technology support content for SupportYourTech.com.

His work can be found on many websites and focuses on topics such as Microsoft Office, Apple devices, Android devices, Photoshop, and more.