Cutting down on expenses can be difficult, but it doesn’t mean you should give up at the first hurdle. To help you drive down your spending habits and help promote a healthier financial outlook, there are plenty of budgeting tools and templates to help. Here we look at the top 5 best budgeting templates and tools to put you on the right track.
- Microsoft Excel
If you are looking for a user friendly and familiar tool, there’s no better option than Microsoft Excel, a program many people have used throughout their lives. They have both a selection of free and premium templates that can be downloaded and used however you wish, with the premium paid templates part of the Microsoft 365 subscription. Their smart money feature can connect to your financial institutions and sync up your data for easy import of information. However, you can do this the old fashioned manual way and download a free budget template instead to fill in. Just input your income sources and expenses and the calculations are already in place – simple!
- Google Sheets
Similarly to Excel, you can do a similar quick job of budgeting using Google Sheets, all whilst online and signed in with your Google account. This can be synced to your other devices, such as your smartphone, and enable you to make checking and adjusting your budget simple on the move. This can be a great option if you have an emergency expense to settle and need to work out your affordability before applying for loans for bad credit whilst out and about. Then you’ll be ready to show you have the means to afford any repayments no matter your credit history. Whilst the Google Sheets free budget template takes a basic approach, it helps guide those who need assistance on what to include in a budget.
- Mint
As one of the most downloaded finance apps for your smartphone or tablet, Mint is a personal finance tool that is completely free to use. It helps track your spending and subscriptions and easily can help identify areas to budget. You can link your bank account as well as any loan or credit card agreements, with Mint analysing the data and notifying you if spending has increased or decreased month on month. If you have a goal to meet, such as saving enough money for a deposit towards a property, the app will track spending habits and allow you to create custom goals so that you can stay on track. Another benefit is it’s more user friendly, so you won’t have to navigate a spreadsheet to budget either.
- Money Helper
Money Helper is the new name for The Money Advice Service, the central hub set up by HM Government to help users with any money related queries. They have a free budget planner that you can use online and fill in. If you ever used the planner on Money Advice Service in the past, you can still log in with the same details registered too. It will save any details so if you have to stop halfway through when filling it in, you can continue where you left off easily. Once completed, it will show a breakdown of your finances by category and provide personalised tips on what to do to maximise your savings and cut down expenses.
- YNAB (You Need A Budget)
If you want to achieve your financial goals, then YNAB is the perfect app to get started. Rather than looking at your financial history, You Need A Budget looks at the present and offers insights into where your money could go with small changes. You can track the goals setup and even get involved with online workshops to get the best out of the app and your budgeting approach. It can be used both on desktop and on your smartphone or tablet for easy access anywhere. Whilst it is a free app, there is a paid subscription to use its features, although you can signup for a trial period with no future commitment necessary.
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