Free UK budgeting Excel template

UKTAXDRAG Budget Workbook

This is a branded Excel template for beginners who need one clear place to put income, bills, debt, savings goals and subscriptions. It is intentionally private: the file lives on your computer and the site does not receive the numbers you type into it.

What is inside

The 30-minute first setup

1. Open the file and save your own private copy.
2. Enter take-home income on Monthly Budget.
3. Enter fixed bills and flexible spending, even if the first pass is rough.
4. Add recurring bills to Bills Calendar so annual costs stop surprising you.
5. List debts with APR and minimum payment on Debt Plan.
6. Add one emergency fund goal and one annual bill goal on Savings Goals.
7. Return to the Dashboard and choose one action for the next month.

Worked example: what the formulas do

The workbook runs on a handful of simple formulas. Following one set of numbers through the tabs shows what each result means and where it can mislead.

Bills Calendar: from annual bills to a monthly figure

Every row starts with its frequency set to Monthly, so change it for bills paid another way. The Annualised column multiplies a monthly amount by 12, a quarterly amount by 4 and a weekly amount by 52, and leaves an annual amount as it is. The tab totals the year and divides by 12 to give the monthly set-aside.

• Car insurance: £540, Annual, annualised £540
• Water: £38, Monthly, annualised £456
• Window cleaner: £45, Quarterly, annualised £180
• Gym: £7.50, Weekly, annualised £390

The total is £1,566 a year, so the tab shows a monthly set-aside of £130.50. Water and the gym are paid as they go, though. The money that genuinely needs putting aside is for the car insurance and the window cleaner: £720 a year, or £60 a month.

Debt Plan: approximate months to clear

Total monthly is the minimum payment plus any extra payment. Approx months to clear uses Excel's NPER function with the APR divided by 12, rounded up to a whole month. A £2,400 card balance at 22.9% APR with a £70 minimum and £40 extra (£110 a month) shows 29 months, provided the APR cell displays as 22.9%. The figure assumes the rate, the payment and the balance stay as entered, with no new spending or fees, so it is a guide rather than a payoff date.

Savings Goals: months left

Remaining is the target minus the current balance, and Months left divides that by the monthly contribution and rounds up. MoneyHelper suggests aiming for three to six months of essential outgoings in an instant access account. With essential spending of £1,500 a month, a three-month target is £4,500. With £900 already saved and £150 a month going in, the tab shows £3,600 remaining and 24 months left.

Dashboard: what it reads

The Dashboard reads only the Monthly Budget tab. Its headline figures and checks use the Actual monthly column; Planned figures appear only in the Planned monthly column of its spending-mix table. Left over is income minus outgoings, labelled Balanced or Shortfall. Savings rate is the spending lines grouped as Savings divided by income. The priority-bills check shows Check while priority bills are under 75% of income and High pressure at 75% or more. With take-home pay of £2,400 and priority bills of £1,310, the ratio is 55%, so it shows Check.

Common mistakes

• Entering gross salary on the income rows instead of take-home pay.
• Rewording the Group or Priority labels. The Dashboard totals match the labels Essential, Flexible, Debt, Savings and Priority bill, so a line labelled differently drops out of the totals.
• Expecting the Bills Calendar, Debt Plan, Savings Goals or Subscriptions tabs to change the Dashboard. They do not feed it, so the monthly amounts decided there need copying into Monthly Budget.
• Filling in Planned but never Actual, which leaves the Dashboard's headline figures and checks at zero.

When the numbers need outside help

If the Dashboard still shows a Shortfall after flexible spending has been cut, or the Debt Plan shows balances that will take years to clear, free debt advice through MoneyHelper is a safer next step than more credit. Card providers have duties here too: under FCA rules, a customer who has paid more in interest, fees and charges than they have repaid of the balance over 18 months must be contacted about changing their repayments.

Sources and useful guidance

• MoneyHelper: how to make a budget
• MoneyHelper: Budget Planner
• Citizens Advice: check what debts to pay first
• GOV.UK: benefits calculators
• MoneyHelper: credit card debt and persistent debt
• MoneyHelper: emergency savings
• Financial Ombudsman: scams where you were tricked into paying
• FCA: credit card persistent debt rules
• Microsoft: NPER function