7 min read · Updated 2026-10-17

How to Make a Budget in Google Sheets (Step by Step)

You do not need a paid app to budget. A free Google Sheet is enough, and you can build a working monthly budget in about 20 minutes. This guide shows the exact layout and formulas, then points out the three things that make most home-made budgets fall apart by week three.

Step 1: Set up three simple tabs

Create a new sheet and add three tabs: Budget, Transactions and Bills. Keeping the money you plan separate from the money you spend is what makes the numbers trustworthy later.

Step 2: List your income and fixed costs

On the Budget tab, put your take-home pay in cell B2. Under it, list rent, utilities, insurance, phone, subscriptions and any loan payments with the amount for each. Use take-home pay (after tax), not your salary, otherwise every number downstream is too optimistic.

Step 3: Add spending categories with a monthly limit

In columns A to C write the category, the planned amount and the amount spent. Start with five to eight categories: groceries, transport, eating out, fun, household and savings. More than ten categories is usually where people give up.

Step 4: Log spending in the Transactions tab

Give the Transactions tab four columns: Date, Description, Category, Amount. Then pull the total per category into the Budget tab with a SUMIF formula:

=SUMIF(Transactions!C:C, A5, Transactions!D:D)

Here A5 holds the category name. Copy the formula down the column and the Spent column now updates itself every time you add a row.

Step 5: Calculate what is left

In column D subtract spent from planned: =B5-C5. Add a conditional-format rule (Format, then Conditional formatting) that turns the cell red when the value is below zero. At a glance you can see which category is over.

Step 6: Create one safe-to-spend number

This is the step most budgets skip. Take your remaining flexible budget and divide it by the days left in the month:

=SUM(D5:D10)/(EOMONTH(TODAY(),0)-TODAY()+1)

That single number tells you what you can spend today without breaking the plan. It is far easier to act on than a grid of percentages.

Three mistakes that break a Google Sheets budget

• Too many categories. If logging takes more than a minute you will stop doing it.
• Typing instead of structuring. Use drop-down lists (Data, Data validation) for categories so the SUMIF formulas never miss a typo.
• No weekly check-in. Put a five-minute reminder in your calendar every Sunday to log receipts and glance at the red cells.

Should you build it or use a template?

Building your own teaches you how the numbers work, and it costs nothing. The trade-off is time: dashboards, charts, bill calendars and protected formulas take hours to get right. If you would rather start with a finished layout, GridX Studio makes ready-to-copy Google Sheets budgets, including an ADHD-friendly budget spreadsheet and a paycheck budget spreadsheet. You can also try the browser versions free first in the paycheck demo.

Next, read our guide on budgeting by paycheck if you are paid every two weeks.

Frequently asked questions

Is Google Sheets good for budgeting?

Yes. It is free, works on phone and computer, supports formulas such as SUMIF, and lets you share the sheet with a partner.

What formula do I use to total spending by category?

Use SUMIF, for example =SUMIF(Transactions!C:C, A5, Transactions!D:D), where column C holds categories and column D holds amounts.

How many budget categories should I have?

Start with five to eight. More than ten makes logging tedious and most people stop tracking.