Use our free monthly budget printable to do what Dave Ramsey says and “tell every dollar where to go.” By giving every dollar a name and accounting for every expense, you’ll feel like you got a raise!
Tired of living paycheck to paycheck?
Or maybe you’re busy paying off debt in Dave Ramsey’s baby step two?
This free monthly budget printable will help you get a better handle on your income and expenses so you can get on the path to financial freedom, faster!
Setting Up Your Monthly Budget
Fill out this monthly budgeting form with your total take-home pay for the month, and then write in each monthly expense. If there’s an expense that doesn’t apply to you, just leave it blank or use white-out to write a different expense in it’s place.
I’ve also included some blank lines in the budget for you to use if you need them. If you have an expense that isn’t listed, add it on the line that says “other”.
It may take some re-working and tweaking, but your total monthly take-home pay minus your expenses should equal ZERO each month. You definitely don’t want a negative number! If you have extra money leftover, which is ideal, allocate it to savings or to a debt payment (if you’re paying off debt).
Before you download the form and get started, there are a few things you should know about using it.
Simply scroll to the bottom of this post if you just want to download and print the monthly budget worksheet right away.
Related: Dave Ramsey Printables To Help You Get Out Of Debt
Free Monthly Budget Printable
Benefits of a Keeping a Written Monthly Budget
There are two HUGE reasons I like using budget printables like this one:
- It’s much easier to understand where our money is going when I see it written out in front of me, and…
- I love keep these printables in a printable budget planner or three ring binder and refer back to them later. It’s a great way to track your progress and stay motivated!
Budgeting For Irregular Expenses
If you have an expense that isn’t monthly, like an insurance bill you pay once a year, then take that annual bill and divide it by twelve to find how much you should save for that bill each month.
For example, an annual bill of $1200 would be divided by the twelve months in a year and would mean you need to save $100 each month to reach your goal.
Budgeting For Variable Expenses
There will be a few expenses that vary each month, like your gas bill. If possible, call your gas company and ask them to tell you what your average monthly bill has been over the past year. This will give you a good starting point for coming up with an amount to use with this template.
Budgeting For Grocery Expenses
The grocery bill is one of the categories we have the most control over, so it becomes a focus point for many families working on putting a written budget together.
If you’re struggling to keep your food costs down, try a meal planning service. Dave Ramsey recommends eMeals on his show; lots of people love their budget meal plan (<– click to try them free for two weeks!). They can even have your groceries ready for you to pick-up at your local WalMart.
Budgeting With Cash Envelopes
If you’re new to budgeting, I highly recommend using cash envelopes. You can assign cash envelopes to every spending category (some people do) but consider at least using them for these three categories:
- Groceries
- Restaurants
- Pocket Money
Once the cash is gone from each envelope, you can’t spend anymore until the next payday… period.
This is a helpful way to be sure you don’t overspend, and it really helps you stick to your monthly budget you worked so hard to put together!
You can use a regular mailing envelope, or a cute printable cash envelope.
Related: The Best Cash Envelope System Wallet Ideas
More Free Monthly Budget Printables
Monthly Budget Binder Toolkits
If you like to keep your budget printables cute, organized, and matching, then take a look at the Budget Binder Toolkits in our shop!
We currently offer three sets:
- Original Budget Binder Toolkit in Berry Stripe
- New & Improved Budget Binder Toolkit in Gold Floral
- New & Improved Budget Binder Toolkit in Yellow and Blue Floral
Once you download your files, you’ll own them forever and can print whatever pages you need, as often as you like. They never expire!
And now, without further ado, it’s time to start setting up your monthly budget printable.
It’s delivered via email and is completely free — just add your email address below and head over to check your inbox. If you don’t see it there right away, be sure to check your spam or junk folders; sometimes printables end up there.
You can also click the image below to get the printable sent to you.
New to our site? We love to share ways to get out of debt, save more money, and make extra money from home.
A few tools we recommend:
Personal Capital – It’s a helpful (and FREE!) way to track your spending, income, and entire investment portfolio all in one place. Check them out here.
Use a shopping portal like Ebates and save more money on everything you buy online. Get a $10 bonus when you sign up now.
Give eMeals a try. This is the meal planning service Dave Ramsey recommends on his show. For a small fee, they’ll even send your meal plan and shopping list over to a local store (like WalMart!) and have your groceries ready for you to just pick-up and go. Click here to try it free for 14 days.
I also highly recommend getting started with a pencil and paper budget, if you’re not already doing so. My printable Budget Binder Toolkit has everything you need to hit the ground running!
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