Simple Budget Dashboard for Beginners

About this template

This simple budget spreadsheet keeps only what a first budget needs, so it is one you will keep using. It is a budget for beginners: anyone budgeting for the first time who wants to see money in, money out, what was saved and what is left, without debt calculators and challenges crowding the screen.

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. It fills itself from your entries, and one drop-down switches it between any month and the full year.

• Money in for the period, with the change and a twelve-month mini chart
• Money in against money out by month, with what is left over adding up
• Stayed on budget: a tick or a cross for every month, and by how much
• Planned against spent, and how much of the plan was used
• Where it went: spending by group, plus the five biggest categories
• Your six biggest bills, taken from the Recurring tab
• Where my money is: account balances, with card debt in red

Built simple on purpose

This uses the same budget engine as the larger OPXVIA budget, with four tabs deliberately removed: no 50/30/20 split, no debt payoff calculator, no net worth statement and no no-spend challenge. If you outgrow it, the same engine runs the full version and nothing has to be entered again.

What is inside

• Transactions: one list of 2,000 rows with a category, an account and a need, want or save flag. Everything else reads from it, which makes it a straightforward expense tracker.
• January to December: a monthly budget tab for each month, totaled against your plan
• Recurring and Bill Calendar: 80 recurring bills entered once, laid out across the month
• Income: 60 income lines
• Accounts: 20 accounts with balances and a net position
• Annual Summary: all twelve months together
• Setup and Start Here: your categories, set once, and a guided start

Light and dark editions

Every download includes a light edition and a dark edition, with every tab restyled and the same formulas in both. Each comes filled with a worked year, 660 transactions, eight accounts and twenty recurring bills, and as a blank copy, in Excel and in Google Sheets. If you were after a budget Google Sheets file rather than Excel, it is included.

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 copy, 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, 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 the moment payment clears. The budget is for personal and business use on your own devices, so please do not share or resell the files. Questions? Reach us through our contact page.

Frequently asked questions

Do I need Excel, or can I use Google Sheets?

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

Is this good for a first budget?

Yes. It is built for beginners, with one transaction list, a tab for each month and a dashboard that fills itself. Extras like debt payoff and net worth are left out on purpose.

What if I want more features later?

The same engine runs the full OPXVIA budget, so you can move up later without entering anything again.

Do I have to enter my bills every month?

No. Recurring bills go on their own tab once, and the bill calendar lays them out across the month.

What is the difference between the light and dark editions?

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