A monthly budget template for Excel and Google Sheets: check actual spending against your plan, then see snowball and avalanche side by side, with interest.
Get it on Payhip →In short: This budget spreadsheet template compares your monthly needs, wants and savings with your plan (it starts at the 50/30/20 targets) and shows what is left to assign. Its Debt Payoff tab takes up to eight debts and runs both snowball and avalanche month by month, with interest, giving the payoff month and total interest for each.
20-second demo — real numbers, with audio 🔊
Works in Microsoft Excel and in Google Sheets (File, Open, Upload). Inputs are the yellow cells; everything else is a live formula you can click and read.
The file ships with this example. These are the workbook's own results:
| Line | Result |
|---|---|
| Take-home income | $4,500 a month |
| 50/30/20 targets | $2,250 / $1,350 / $900 |
| Actual: needs $2,300, wants $1,000, savings $700 | needs = 51.1% of income |
| Left to assign | $500 |
| Actual vs planned: needs / wants / savings | $50 above / $350 below / $200 below plan |
| Debt Payoff: 4 debts, $12,000 total, $350 minimums + $300 extra | $650 a month |
| Snowball (smallest balance first) | 21 months, $1,637.77 interest |
| Avalanche (highest APR first) | 21 months, $1,575.64 interest |
| Interest the avalanche saves | $62.13 |
On the demo debts (a $1,200 store card at 26.99%, two credit cards and a $5,000 car loan) both methods clear everything in month 21, but the avalanche pays $62.13 less interest because it attacks the 22.99% card before the 17.99% one. The snowball clears its second debt in month 9, against month 13 for the avalanche, which is the quick win people choose it for. Interest is charged monthly at APR / 12 and minimums stay at what you enter, as the sheet notes; card issuers charge daily, so statements will differ slightly. The Planner tab's quick estimate (22 months) treats the debts as one blended loan at the average APR, which is why the Debt Payoff tab works them one by one.
Anyone who wants a 50/30/20 check, an actual-vs-planned view of the month and a real debt plan in one file. It is a planner, not a bank-linked tracker: you type the figures. For the method behind the payoff order see the debt snowball spreadsheet guide; for the budget rule itself, see the 50/30/20 budget spreadsheet guide.
An honest comparison. A free template is the right choice if you only need a form to fill in, and software is the right choice if you need scheduling, invoicing or bank feeds. This file is for getting the number right.
| This spreadsheet | Free blank template | Budgeting apps | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50/30/20 targets from your income | Yes | Sometimes | Varies |
| Debt payoff with interest, debt by debt | Yes, snowball and avalanche, up to 8 debts | Only if you build it | Often |
| Bank sync and reminders | No | No | Usually |
| Where it runs | Your own Excel or Google Sheets file | A spreadsheet | The vendor's app and account |
| Cost | $14.99 once | Free | Monthly subscription |
Get the free 50/30/20 Budget Starter and see exactly how the live formulas work — no risk, no card.
Split your take-home pay into 50% needs, 30% wants and 20% savings/debt. The planner works out the three targets from your take-home pay, compares what you actually spend with your plan line by line, and its Debt Payoff tab shows your debt-free month debt by debt, with interest.
Avalanche (highest interest first) saves the most money; snowball (smallest balance first) gives quick wins for motivation. The planner runs both side by side on up to eight debts, month by month with interest, and shows the payoff month and total interest for each method. On its demo debts both finish in month 21 and the avalanche saves $62.13 of interest.
Yes, both — it's a spreadsheet with live formulas.
Yes, $14.99 one-time, no subscription. Also in the $49 bundle. A free 50/30/20 starter version is available too.
Multiply take-home pay by 0.5, 0.3 and 0.2 for the needs, wants and savings targets, then compare your real spending with each. In the sheet's example, $4,500 of take-home gives targets of $2,250, $1,350 and $900, and needs come in at 51.1% of income.
Put your monthly take-home pay at the top, list needs, wants and savings below it, and subtract everything from income to see what is left to assign. A good template does the targets and the leftover for you; this one also compares actual with planned and adds a snowball and avalanche debt plan.
Yes. The Debt Payoff tab takes up to eight debts with balance, APR and minimum payment, plus your extra payment, and runs both methods month by month with interest. On the demo debts both are debt-free in month 21; the avalanche pays $1,575.64 of interest against $1,637.77 for the snowball.
