Worksheet
Household budget worksheet
This is for anyone who wants one clear page showing what comes in, what must go out and what is left. Print this page or copy the lines onto paper or a spreadsheet. Nothing is calculated for you here, and nothing is stored. It is general information, not financial advice.
Step 1: Income (monthly)
Write down take-home pay, meaning what actually lands in your account. List reliable income first and variable income separately. For variable income, use a low month, not an average, as your planning number.
| Line | Amount per month |
|---|---|
| Pay 1 (take-home) | ________ |
| Pay 2 (take-home) | ________ |
| Other steady income | ________ |
| A. Total planning income | ________ |
Step 2: Essentials
Costs you must pay to keep housing, food, transport, health and work going, including the minimum payment on every debt. Convert yearly or quarterly bills to a monthly share by dividing by 12 or 3.
| Line | Amount per month |
|---|---|
| Rent or mortgage, housing costs | ________ |
| Utilities and phone | ________ |
| Groceries | ________ |
| Transport and fuel | ________ |
| Insurance (monthly share) | ________ |
| Minimum debt payments | ________ |
| Other must-pay items | ________ |
| B. Total essentials | ________ |
Step 3: Flexible spending
Eating out, entertainment, shopping, subscriptions and gifts. Look at your last two or three months of statements for real figures, not guesses. These are the lines most likely to drift upward.
| Line | Amount per month |
|---|---|
| Eating out and takeaway | ________ |
| Entertainment and hobbies | ________ |
| Subscriptions | ________ |
| Clothing, household, personal care | ________ |
| Gifts and other | ________ |
| C. Total flexible spending | ________ |
Step 4: Priority buckets
Money you deliberately direct: emergency fund, extra debt payments, sinking funds for irregular costs, and long-term saving.
| Line | Amount per month |
|---|---|
| Emergency fund | ________ |
| Extra debt payment | ________ |
| Sinking funds | ________ |
| Long-term saving | ________ |
| D. Total priority buckets | ________ |
Check the gap
Gap = A minus (B + C + D). A gap of zero is a fully planned month, which is the aim of a zero-based budget. A negative gap means the plan spends more than comes in, so trim flexible spending first, then revisit the buckets. A positive gap is unassigned money, so give it a job.
Worked example
Suppose take-home income is 4,000 (A). Essentials are 2,600 (B) and flexible spending is 700 (C). The gap before buckets is 4,000 minus 3,300, which is 700. If you assign 300 to the emergency fund, 250 to extra debt payments and 150 to sinking funds, D is 700 and the gap is zero. The numbers are made up and use no currency, so substitute your own.
Limits
A worksheet shows a snapshot. It does not track what you actually spend, and it does not know about taxes, irregular bonuses or one-off emergencies. If your income is irregular, build the plan on a low month and treat anything above it as extra. The percent-based 50/30/20 shortcut is explained in 50/30/20 versus zero-based.
Where this comes from
The structure of income, essentials, flexible spending and savings follows the budgeting worksheets and tools published by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau in its consumer education materials. The gap formula is simple subtraction. It is a planning aid, not a standard.