Free simple budget, with an Excel download

Do you have a hard time saving money because you have juuuust enough to only pay your bills?

Saving money should not be a choice between paying a bill or saving for an emergency. If you've ever had an unexpected emergency without any reserved funds to pay for it, this post might be able to help better prepare you financially. A pivotal moment for me came when I was about 19 years old. I had a horrible toothache that began to abscess. The pain was excruciating. I desperately needed medical attention. I could not afford to pay the dentist to fix the tooth, so I lost a tooth that could have been saved, due to lack of funds. This is when I realize the importance of having an emergency fund. My parents did not prepare me to understand personal finance, so I had to learn about it for myself the hard way... through trial and error.

Nothing in life is guaranteed for any of us. Neither our health, our career path, nor our plans for the future are guaranteed. Having a savings plan does not guarantee that you will always be financially secure but it can make a huge difference when "life" unexpectedly happens.

I am not a financial advisor. I am simply a real person that had very little knowledge about finances and how credit works, to a bit more knowledgeable, thereby more financially stable than I was in the past. I am always up for learning new things, especially if it helps my family and I during difficult times.

Below is a free Excel spreadsheet to get yourself started, please feel free to customize it to your liking. I tried to make it very simple, however you will need a few basic MS Excel skills to work with it. Please feel free to make the spreadsheet your own. Build on it. Run with it. Share it.

Please note, if you are at work, you might not be able to see the spreadsheet object below.

Simple Budget Spreadsheet -