Weekly Paycheck Budget Spreadsheet

About this template

This weekly budget spreadsheet suits anyone paid every week, from hourly shifts to contract work. Each of your 52 paychecks gets its own plan, and one dashboard shows a single week or the full year: what came in, what went out, where it went, what you put aside and what carries over.

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

Select a paycheck or the full year and the whole page updates. Every number comes from your transactions, so nothing here is typed.

• Five live cards: money in, money out, saved, savings rate and the amount rolling over
• The change against the last paycheck on every card, shown with an up or down arrow
• A 52-paycheck mini chart inside each card, with the paycheck you picked highlighted
• Paycheck flow: income against spending for all 52 paychecks, plus what rolls over
• Where it went: spending by group with the total in the center and each share as a percentage
• Budget against actual for every group, with any overspending called out
• Your top categories, subscriptions, debts, savings goals and the 50/30/20 split

Nineteen connected tabs

Here is how this paycheck budget is laid out around a weekly payday.

Every pay period

• Paychecks: all 52, each with income, brought forward, available, spent and left over
• Budget by Paycheck: choose a period and see planned, spent and left for every category
• Income: weekly, bi-weekly, semi-monthly or monthly pay cycles
• Transactions: 2,000 rows, the single source every other tab reads

Bills and subscriptions

• Recurring: the bills that repeat and the day each one lands
• Bill Calendar: all twelve months, showing what is due on which day, so it doubles as a bill tracker
• Subscriptions: a subscription tracker with monthly and annual cost that flags anything over 300 dollars a year
• Accounts: checking, savings, cards, cash and investments

Get ahead

• 50/30/20: needs, wants and savings against the rule of thumb
• Debt Payoff: choose snowball or avalanche and the payoff order works itself out
• Sinking Funds: once-a-year bills, saved for a little every payday
• Savings Goals: the target, what you have saved and the month you reach it
• Net Worth: what you own less what you owe
• Annual Summary, Expense Breakdown and No-Spend Challenge

Light and dark editions

Every download includes a light edition and a dark mode budget edition. Every tab is restyled, not only the dashboard, and the formulas are identical. Both come filled with a worked example and blank, in Excel and in Google Sheets, so you can see a budget by paycheck working before you start your own.

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, not a PDF with a link in it.
• Built with no dynamic arrays, no macros and no add-ins, so it behaves the same everywhere
• No subscription 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 your 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

Do I need Excel to use it?

No. Excel 2016 or later works on Windows and Mac, and the instruction guide has one-click links to the Google Sheets versions, which only need a free Google account.

Does it really track 52 paychecks?

Yes. The Paychecks tab lists all 52 with income, money brought forward, what is available, what you spent and what is left over, and the dashboard charts every one.

My partner is paid monthly. Can both incomes go in?

Yes. The Income tab accepts weekly, bi-weekly, semi-monthly and monthly pay cycles, so each income keeps its own schedule.

Does it connect to my bank?

No. You log each transaction yourself, once, and every tab and chart updates from that list. There is no bank connection and no subscription.

Are the light and dark editions different?

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