Your guide: How to Make a Budget on Google Sheets?

Making a budget is a skill that everyone who wants to handle their money well needs to have. It helps people set financial goals, figure out how they spend their money and deal with the stress that comes with managing money. One of the best tools for making and keeping a budget is Google Sheets, which is an easy-to-use platform for making a personalized budget spreadsheet. So, if you’ve ever wondered, “How to Make a Budget on Google Sheets?” you’ve come to the right place. Keep reading to learn more.

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Why is making a budget so important?

Being aware of your financial situation

By making a budget, you can keep track of your income and expenses in a structured way. If you know where your money is going, you can make smart choices about it. Now that you know this, you can find places where you can spend less and put your money toward investments or savings.

Getting to Financial Goals

You can reach your financial goals, like retirement, a new car, or a trip if you have a budget. Setting clear goals and breaking them up into small, monthly payments can help you get closer to your goals.

Getting rid of financial stress

It can be hard to handle taking care of your money. A well-thought-out budget can help ease this stress by giving your financial life order and clarity. Knowing how much you can spend each month will keep you from worrying about money for no reason.

How to Make a Budget on Google Sheets?

Putting out a new spreadsheet

To start making your budget, you need to open a new Google Sheets file. How to do it:

• Start up Google Drive: Sign in to your Google Drive account.
• Click the “New” button and then pick “Google Sheets” from the drop-down menu.
• This will make a new worksheet. You could also just go to Google Sheets and select “Blank spreadsheet.”

Choice of an Optional Budget Template

There are many budget plans already made in Google Sheets if you’d rather start right away. To get to them:

• If you want to make a new sheet, click “Template Gallery.”
• Look through the different templates that are offered and pick one that meets your needs.
• Using a template can save you time and give your budget a more official look.

Making the Categories for Your Budget

How to Find the Sources of Income

The first thing you need to do to make a budget is figure out how much money you make. The most common groups are:

• Pay: The main thing that makes you money from work.
• Any private or part-time job is called a “side gig.”
• Investment income includes money made from stocks, bonds, or rental assets.

Keeping track of your spending

Next, separate your spending into two groups: costs that change and costs that don’t change. This is an outline:

• Costs that don’t change every month, like rent or a mortgage, insurance, and loan payments, are called fixed costs.
• Some examples of variable costs are groceries, fun, and eating out. These costs can change.

Setting goals for saving money

Don’t forget to save some money. You could make groups like these:

• Savings for unexpected costs in case of an emergency.
• Saving for retirement means putting money into a retirement account.
• Short-term goals: Put money aside for big purchases or trips.
  

Picking Out Your Budget Date Range

Every week, every month, or every year?

When you make your budget, you have to decide how often you will look at it and make changes. Most people do best with a monthly budget because it fits with their regular paychecks and regular bills. You could also think about:

A weekly budget can help you keep track of irregular income or short-term costs.
For long-term planning of money, annual budgets work best.

Making the Columns for Your Budget

No matter what budget time you choose, you need to make a spreadsheet with three important columns:

• The planned amount is the amount of money you plan to set aside for each list.
• Real Amount: The real amount of money you earn or spend.
• The difference between what you spent and what you planned to spend.

Using a simple layout to keep your spreadsheet in order

On your budget sheet, there should be spaces for:

• Some of the budget areas are paying off debt, saving goals, fixed and variable costs, and sources of income.
• Your planned amount is the amount of money you plan to spend.
• Real Amounts: The real amount you spent.
• Difference: The amount of money you spend too much or too little of.
• Tips: Adding a “Notes” field can help you keep track of details or strange costs that might need more information.

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Using formulas to get things done faster

• Simple math problems: Google Sheets has powerful tools that make making a budget quick and easy.
• SUM Function: To find the total amount of money made or spent, use the SUM function.
• To give you an example, =SUM(B2:B10) will add up all the numbers in that range.
• Finding the Differences: What is the difference between your planned and real spending?
• Use a formula like =B2-C2, where B2 is the planned amount and C2 is the actual amount. Drag it down to make the formula work for all rows.

Putting numbers into your budget

Making use of information from the past

First, look at old bank records to see how you normally spend your money. With this historical information, you can make a good start on your spending. Make goals that you can reach based on your income and the things you need to pay for.

Crystal Clear with Color Coding

It might be easier to read your chart if you use different colors for each one. Use different shades for:

• Income
• Costs that don’t change
• Different costs
• Goals for saving
• With this visual difference, it might be easier to quickly go through your spending.

Making changes to your budget regularly

Keep an eye on your progress

Once you have made a budget, it’s important to keep it up to date with your actual income and spending. With this practice, you can stay on track and make any changes you need to along the way. Set an alert in Google Calendar to look over your budget every week or month.

Tips for Working Together on Budgeting with Google Sheets

If you and your partner are making a budget together or splitting costs, you can use Google Sheets’ sharing options. You can decide who can see your financial data and still let other people help you.

Using conditional formatting

With conditional style, it’s easier to see how your budget is working. For example, make rules to draw attention to cells that are spending too much. To do this:

• Pick the range that you want to style.
• After you click “Format,” click “Conditional formatting.”.
• Set rules, like turning the cell red if it costs more than a certain percentage of your spending.

Drawing Things Out

Make graphs and charts to help you understand your budget info better. This lets you see how your money is being spent and find places that need work. Just choose the data you want to use, hit “Insert,” then “Chart,” and pick the type of chart that best shows your data.

Using the Features of Google Sheets

What Queries Are For?

For people who like to look at their data in more depth, the QUERY function lets you run tasks that are similar to SQL. You can get every item from a certain column, for example, if certain conditions are met. It can be very helpful to look closely at how you spend your money in this way.

Adding information from other sheets

This tool lets you get data from other Google Sheets if you use different sheets for different types of financial work. All of your information will be in one place, which could make planning go more smoothly.

Conclusion

Making a budget in Google Sheets is a great way to get better at handling your money. If you follow the steps in this piece, you can make a personalized planning tool that shows your income and your financial goals. Stick to your budget if you want to make one that works. Make it a habit to check your progress and make changes to your worksheet often. You can manage your money well and reach your financial goals if you are dedicated and have the right tools. Have fun making your budget!