Expat and Multi-Currency Budget Spreadsheet

About this template

This expat budget is for people paid in one currency and billed in another, who are tired of guessing at the rate in between. Every balance is converted into your home currency, and the workbook shows what the exchange rate did to your money over the year.

Managing two currencies is not simply double the work. It is a different job, because the rate moves between the day you earn and the day you spend.

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

Nothing on the dashboard is typed. Pick all currencies or just one and the holdings, cards and table follow.

• Held, at home: everything you hold, converted into your home currency, with each currency's share
• Earned and spent: pay earned abroad and spending at home, month by month
• If the rate had held: the year as it went against the year at January's rate
• The rate, month by month: what the rate paid or cost on each month's pay, and how far it moved, stronger or weaker
• Rate you got against today: each currency at the rate you bought at and at today's
• Every currency: amount, today's rate, value at home and what the rate did

What sets it apart

• Every balance converted: up to 8 currencies, each at a rate you type against the rate you actually got, with the difference totaled. Rates are typed rather than fetched, so no add-in is needed
• What the rate did to your year: a column showing what each month would have come to at January's rate. The gap is often bigger than any single expense
• Month by month in both: earned abroad, that month's exchange rate, earned at home, spent at home and left over
• A full annual budget underneath: the currency tab is an addition, not the whole product

Sixteen connected tabs

Start Here, Setup, Accounts, Income, Currencies, Recurring, Transactions, a Bill Calendar across both countries, twelve monthly tabs that fill themselves from one transaction list, Annual Summary, 50/30/20, Expense Breakdown, Sinking Funds, Savings Goals, Net Worth in the home currency, and the Dashboard. The worked example holds five currencies, including sterling, euros, US dollars and dirhams, with a year of foreign income converted at a drifting rate. It suits expats, overseas workers and any digital nomad who needs a proper multi currency annual budget.

Light and dark editions

Every download includes a light edition and a dark edition. Every tab is restyled, not just the dashboard, and both use the same formulas. Each comes filled with a worked example and blank, in Excel and in Google Sheets.

Works with

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

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, which has 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 to download as soon as payment clears. The template is for personal and business use on your own devices, so 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 Excel and Google Sheets?

Yes. You download Excel workbooks for Excel 2016 or later on Windows and Mac, and the instruction guide has one-click links to make your own copy in Google Sheets with a free Google account.

Does it update exchange rates automatically?

No. Rates are typed in, because a rate that updates itself needs an add-in and this file has none. You enter today's rate and the rate you actually got.

How many currencies can I track?

Up to 8 currencies, each converted into one home currency.

Can I see how much the exchange rate cost me?

Yes. The workbook totals what rate movements cost or paid, and shows what each month would have come to if January's rate had held.

What is the difference between the light and dark editions?

Only the look. Both have the same tabs and formulas, and both are included in every download.