Learn how to make a monthly budget in Google Sheets with a two-tab setup, SUMIF and subtraction formulas, and a worked household example you can copy.

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Here is how to make a monthly budget in Google Sheets: set up two tabs, Budget for your planned amounts and Transactions for every payment you make. A SUMIF formula pulls the actual total for each category into Budget, and a simple subtraction shows what is left after expenses. Once the formulas are in place, you copy the file each month and keep going.

This guide walks through the setup with a worked household example that shows the exact formula in each cell. It also helps you decide between Google's built-in template and a sheet you build yourself.

Why use two tabs instead of one

Keeping the plan and the record apart stops them from blurring together. Budget holds what you intend to spend. Transactions holds what actually happened. When you log a purchase, the totals on Budget update on their own, so you never type the same number twice.

How to make a monthly budget in Google Sheets: step by step

Step 1: Set up the Budget tab

Create a new spreadsheet, rename the first tab Budget, and add these headers in row 1:

• A1: Category
• B1: Planned
• C1: Actual
• D1: Left

In column A, list your expense categories starting in A2. The example below uses 11: rent, groceries, utilities, transportation, car insurance, phone and internet, subscriptions, dining out, debt payments, savings, and personal and misc.

Type your planned amount for each category in column B. If a bill comes once a year, divide it by 12 so you set aside a little every month. A $1,440 annual car insurance premium becomes =1440/12 in the planned cell, which is $120 a month.

Step 2: Create the Transactions tab

Add a second tab named Transactions with four columns:

• A: Date
• B: Category
• C: Description
• D: Amount

Every purchase or payment gets its own row. Category names must match the names on Budget exactly, including spacing. A typo means that transaction is not counted. To keep names consistent, use a dropdown. Our step-by-step guide to dropdown lists in Google Sheets shows how.

Use the category Income for paychecks so you can total them the same way.

Step 3: Add the SUMIF formula for actual spending

In cell C2 on the Budget tab, enter:

=SUMIF(Transactions!B:B, A2, Transactions!D:D)

The first part is the range to check, the second is the category to match, and the third is the amounts to add. In plain terms: find every Transactions row whose category matches A2, then add up their amounts. Copy the formula down to C12. Each category now updates as you log spending.

Step 4: Subtract to see what is left

In D2, enter =B2-C2 and copy it down. A positive number means you are under plan in that category. A negative number means you overspent, which is your cue to adjust.

Then add the totals in row 13:

• B13: =SUM(B2:B12)
• C13: =SUM(C2:C12)
• D13: =SUM(D2:D12)

Finally, add income and the bottom line. In row 15, type Take-home income in A15, your planned take-home pay in B15, and =SUMIF(Transactions!B:B, "Income", Transactions!D:D) in C15. In row 16, type Left to assign in A16, then enter =B15-B13 in B16 and =C15-C13 in C16.

Left to assign is money that does not have a job yet. A positive number is your buffer. A negative number means the plan costs more than you earn.

A worked example: one household month

The numbers below are hypothetical, chosen to show how the formulas behave. Take-home pay is $4,600 a month, and the household rents its home and owns one car.

Category	Planned	Actual	Left (Planned − Actual)
Rent	$1,500	$1,500	$0
Groceries	$550	$612	-$62
Utilities	$180	$195	-$15
Transportation	$250	$275	-$25
Car insurance ($1,440 ÷ 12)	$120	$120	$0
Phone and internet	$110	$110	$0
Subscriptions	$45	$62	-$17
Dining out	$150	$210	-$60
Debt payments	$350	$350	$0
Savings	$400	$400	$0
Personal and misc	$200	$260	-$60
Total expenses	$3,855	$4,094	-$239
Take-home income	$4,600	$4,600
Left to assign	$745	$506

In this month the household spent $239 more than planned, mostly on groceries, dining out, and personal spending. It still had $506 left to assign, so the plan held. The useful move is deciding where that $506 goes, such as an emergency fund or next month's dining budget, rather than letting it drift into everyday spending.

How this compares with national averages

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that average annual spending for all consumer units was $81,905 in 2025, up 4.3 percent from 2024, according to its 2025 Consumer Expenditures release. Divided by 12, that is about $6,825 a month. Housing averaged $27,790 a year, or 33.9 percent of spending, which works out to roughly $2,316 a month.

These are averages across very different households, so treat them as a reference point, not a target. The hypothetical household above spends less than both figures, which is a reason to compare your own numbers, not copy someone else's. For a plain-language summary of the 2024 to 2025 change, see The Economics Daily.

Built-in template or build from scratch?

Google offers a monthly budget template through File, then New, then From template gallery. It is a reasonable starting point, but the right choice depends on how much you want to control.

Criteria	Built-in template	Build from scratch
Setup time	Fast: pick it from the gallery	Slower: you create tabs and formulas
Formula learning	Little, since formulas are already set	Full: you write SUMIF, SUM, and subtraction
Changing categories	Check that totals still pick up new rows	You control every row and formula
Main risk	Less transparent when a total looks wrong	A mistyped category silently drops a transaction

Our verdict: use the built-in template if you need a working sheet today and mainly want to read the totals. Build your own if you plan to change categories over time or want to understand why the numbers move. The main risk of building from scratch is a mismatched category name, which is why the dropdown step above matters.

Formulas worth knowing

• =SUM(B2:B12) adds a range. A plain SUM includes hidden rows.
• =SUBTOTAL(109, B2:B12) adds only visible rows, which helps when you filter the list.
• SUMIFS adds more conditions. Google's SUMIFS documentation explains that a row must meet all criteria to be counted, which matters when you add a second condition such as a payment method.
• To total across monthly tabs, name each sheet and range, for example =SUM(Jan!B2:B50, Feb!B2:B50).

Keep the budget from stalling

Most budgets do not fail on day one. They fail when transactions stop being logged. A few habits help:

• Log spending on a fixed day each week, such as Sunday.
• Mark bills as paid with checkboxes so you can see what is still due. Our guide to checkboxes in Google Sheets covers the setup.
• At the start of each month, make a copy of the file, rename it, and clear the Transactions tab in the copy. This keeps SUMIF counting only the new month.
• Move the Left to assign amount into savings or a planned category before the month starts.

If you tend to start a budget with energy and drop it by week three, treat the rebuild as a project. continuu.it is a project tool built around project states: Active, Paused, Killed, or Completed. Tasks live inside each project, and notes keep the context you would otherwise have to rebuild. A budget rebuild can be marked Paused and picked up later with your last steps still visible. It does not replace a spreadsheet or a documentation tool like Notion, so keep your numbers in Google Sheets and use continuu.it to keep the habit moving. There is a free plan.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a budget template in Google Sheets?

Yes. Go to File, then New, then From template gallery, and look for a monthly budget template. Templates are a fast start, and the two-tab method above shows you what each formula does, so you can change it later.

Can I track more than one month in one file?

Yes, but duplicate the file at the start of each month rather than adding every month to the same Transactions tab. Otherwise the category totals mix months together.

How do I sum only visible rows?

Use =SUBTOTAL(109, B2:B12). Plain SUM includes hidden rows, so filtering will not change its result.

Can I share the budget with a partner?

Yes. Click Share and give your partner Editor access so both of you can add transactions.

Can SUM add across different sheets?

Yes, by naming each tab and range, such as =SUM(Jan!B2:B50, Feb!B2:B50).

The bottom line

A monthly budget in Google Sheets needs only two tabs, one SUMIF formula, and a few subtractions. Start with the plan, log every transaction, and check Left to assign each week. The method holds up with real numbers, and the weekly habit is what keeps it useful.