Expense Trackers are the perfect way to stay on track! Many of you are working on new budgets and bill paying systems! I’m going to share MY simple system for tracking monthly expenses with you! I love this because regardless of your situation, the bills you have, or your savings goals, this printable worksheet will work for you!
The key is to budget every single thing so you don’t have ANY funds left over at the end of the month. This sounds counterintuitive, I know, but the key is to label EVERYTHING!!
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Monthly Expense Tracker Worksheet
Label your savings. Label your fun money. Label every single penny you spend throughout the year.
Include areas like money to save for travel, money for birthday parties, back to school clothes, etc. This will be different for everyone, so we included plenty of blank lines! Be sure to include things that you wouldn’t normally think about as a bill, like your children’s school lunches or money set aside for the salon every other month.
Like I said, the key is to label it all. Go through your bank statement for a few months to jog your memory, if needed! This way, you will remember every single expense you have!
Where To Print Expense Tracker
Go here and print the free expense tracker! Then use it for your spending needs, so your finances can stay on track!
How To Use A Monthly Expense Tracker Printable
Now that you have a list of all your bills, you can figure out the rest of your expenses. Put your ideal savings aside first. That’s your monthly savings goal. You can change these numbers as you work through your budget.
Next, for the once-a-year expenditures, figure out your budget for those and divide it by twelve to save for it. For example, if you plan to spend $200 for back to school clothes, set aside $17 per month for it. If you plan to spend $2,000 on a family vacation, set aside $167 a month for it. If you’re constantly saving, you will be prepared for those extra expenses throughout the year! Label it all and then plan for it.
Tracking Bills Worksheet
As for the bill reminder portion of the worksheet, write out when each bill is due, and when it has been paid. Even if you have your bills auto-drafted from your account, write down the auto-draft date.
TIP: Some companies offer a slight discount if you plan to auto-draft instead of manually pay. Check and see if that option is available for you! Every little bit of savings helps!
The important thing to remember from this worksheet is that the numbers can be adjusted throughout the year. For example, if you want to focus on paying off debt, you’ll want to allocate more of your funds toward that, first. Once you pay down your debt and build up your savings, you may choose to increase the funds you put toward your travel money.
Flexible Monthly Expense Tracker
However, you choose to use this monthly expense tracker is up to you!! It is so flexible, regardless of your income, your savings goals, or the number of bills you have. I love that there are spaces for budgeted and actual, as well as notes, so you can adjust for the next month!
This system has been SO helpful to get us organized and on the same page and it can help you, too!!