Creating a budget is so important to winning with money.
But when you are first starting, it can hard to know where to begin.
Using a specific method of budgeting can help get you started.
The 50/30/20 budget method is a great way to start organizing your money and tracking your budget,
To help you create your own 50/30/20 budget, we have created a 50/30/20 budget spreadsheet.
This excel workbook makes creating and tracking your budget so easy!
What is the 50/30/20 Budget?
To start, let’s go over the basics of the 50/30/20 rule of budgeting.
When you use this budget method, you divide your income into three general categories or buckets.
This will help make creating a general budget easier since you know how much you have to spend in each section.
The first category is the largest and it is your “Needs”. 50% of your income goes towards your needs and living expenses.
All of your mandatory bills and expenses should be covered in this section.
Bills such as Rent/Mortgage, groceries, utilities and other mandatory expenses fall under this category.
The second category is for your “Wants”. 30% of your income is used to pay for the extras and fun aspects of life.
This budget section includes subscriptions, personal spending money, entertainment and anything else not strictly needed for living.
The last category is designated for your “Savings”. 20% of your income goes towards saving with this budget method.
If you are working to pay off debt, you could also use this money to make extra debt payments.
With the 50/30/20 budget method, it’s important to really focus on what are needs and what are wants.
Doing do will help you stay within budget and focus your financial efforts on your true goals and plans.
50 30 20 Budget Spreadsheet
We created an excel spreadsheet specifically designed to help you create and track your own 50/30/20 budget.
This excel template walks you through creating a budget, and does the math of the 50%, 30% and 20% along the way.
This is how you use the spreadsheet.
First fill in the income section.
This let’s you know how much income you have coming in, but also starts the formulas in the worksheet.
Once you enter the income information, you will see the 50/3020 section populate and divide you income into the appropriate amounts.
Next start filling in the “Needs” section.
As you enter in the expense category, and the expected amount, the worksheet will track the totals for the needs section, and track how much you have left spend.
Then work on the “Wants” section.
The spreadsheet will keep track of how much you have planned to spend and how much you have left to spend, based on the 30% of your income designated for the category.
Finally fill out the Savings/Debt section.
The worksheet will track everything in this section the same as it does for the previous two sections.
What is Included with the 50 30 20 Budget Spreadsheet template?
The spreadsheet we created has everything you need to help you find success budgeting with the 50/30/20 method.
You first have an instruction sheet that goes over how to use all of the tabs and how to be successful using the workbook.
Then you have the monthly budget sheet where you create your budget, and see how your actual spending compares to your plan.
Next is the Expense tracking sheet.
You use this to enter your expenses and payments.
What you enter on this sheet is tracked on the monthly budget sheet for easy comparison of your planned versus your actual spending.
Final Thoughts on the 50/30/20 Budget Spreadsheet
Okay! You have seen how the 50/30/20 budget method works, and how to use the spreadsheet to create a budget for this method, AND track your finances to stay in the allotted percentage guides.
We love how simple this budget process is, and that it can work for so many different budgets and circumstances.
If you think the 50/30/20 budget would work for you, give it a shot! Use our spreadsheet to get started and see how it goes.
What do you have to lose?! Get your spreadsheet here.