50/30/20 Budget Dashboard Spreadsheet

About this template

This 50 30 20 budget spreadsheet checks one simple rule every month: half your take-home pay on needs, 30% on wants and 20% on savings. You log each transaction once, and the workbook tells you whether you kept to the rule and where you drifted.

Please read: This is a tracker tool only, not financial, tax, legal, medical or any other professional advice or advisory service. It records and calculates what you enter; you are solely responsible for checking all figures, rates, dates and results and for every decision you make. By purchasing, downloading or using it, you accept these terms (your statutory consumer rights are not affected).

The dashboard

A single dropdown switches the page between a month and the full year. Nothing on it is typed; it fills itself from your entries.

• Take-home pay for the period, and how many months kept to the rule
• Needs, wants and savings, each as a share of take-home against its 50, 30 or 20% target
• The rule by month: needs, wants and savings each month, with the targets drawn in
• Twelve monthly verdict tiles: on the rule, save more, or overspent
• Wants to trim: the biggest wants in the period, the first place to cut
• Left over: what was neither spent nor saved, with a twelve-month mini chart
• In dollars: what the rule allows against what actually went out
• Three rings showing how many points you are over or under each target
• Cash flow: income and spending by month, with a running total left over

The Rule Tracker

The Rule Tracker turns the budget rule into a plain verdict for each month: on the rule, saving too little, or overspending. It works from your own numbers, so the judgment is about your actual month, not an estimate.

Twenty-nine connected tabs

Every tab reads from one transaction list. Nothing is typed twice and there are no pivot tables to refresh, so your monthly budget and the year view always match.

• 2,000 transaction rows and 40 categories, all renameable
• Budgets, variances, totals and percentages calculated for you
• Over-budget and overdue amounts change color on their own
• Dropdown lists that grow as you add accounts and categories
• Charts that redraw from your numbers, so it doubles as an expense tracker and a savings tracker

Filled in, light and dark

Each download has a full demo year to click through and a blank copy for your own money, in Excel and in Google Sheets. Both come in a light edition and a dark edition, with every tab restyled and the same formulas underneath.

Works with

• Microsoft Excel 2016, 2019, 2021 and Microsoft 365, on Windows and Mac, and LibreOffice. No Microsoft 365 subscription needed.
• Google Sheets with a free Google account. The Google Sheets version is a real workbook, not a PDF with a link in it.
• No dynamic arrays, no macros, no add-ins and no bank connection

What you download

• Light edition: the Excel workbook filled with a worked example, and a blank one
• Dark edition: the same two files in the dark design
• The instruction guide, with one-click links to the Google Sheets versions (light and dark, filled and blank)
• The terms of use as a PDF

Your files are ready as soon as payment clears. The template is for personal use on your own devices; please do not share or resell the files. Questions before or after you buy? Use our contact page and we will help.

Frequently asked questions

Does it work in Google Sheets or only Excel?

Both. The Excel workbooks run in Excel 2016 or later on Windows and Mac, and the instruction guide has one-click links to the Google Sheets versions for a free Google account.

How does it tell me if I kept to the 50/30/20 rule?

The Rule Tracker gives each month a verdict, on the rule, saving too little or overspending, and the dashboard shows needs, wants and savings against their 50, 30 and 20% targets.

Which categories count as needs and which as wants?

You decide. All 40 categories can be renamed, and the workbook groups your spending so the rule is checked against your own numbers.

Where should I cut back first?

The dashboard lists your biggest wants for the period under Wants to trim, which is the first place to look.

Are the light and dark editions the same workbook?

Yes, apart from the look. Same tabs, same formulas, and both are included.