How to Make a Budget in Google Sheets (With Formulas)

By Cedar & Ledger

You can build a working monthly budget in Google Sheets in about 30 minutes with four formulas. Here's the exact layout, the formulas to paste, and the small extras (dropdowns, colors, a chart) that make it easy to keep using.

All amounts below are made-up examples. This is general information, not financial advice.

Step 1: Set up two tabs

Create a new sheet (sheets.new) and make two tabs at the bottom:

• Budget: your plan for the month.
• Transactions: every purchase, one per row.

Want to see spending by month, side by side? Build an expense tracker spreadsheet next.

Step 2: Build the Transactions tab

Put these headers in row 1:

Then add a few rows, e.g. Oct 3 · Groceries · Food · 86.40.

Add a category dropdown: select column C (from C2 down) > Data > Data validation > Add rule > Dropdown, and type your categories (Housing, Food, Car, Bills, Fun, Savings). Now every row uses the exact same spelling, which the formulas need.

Step 3: Build the Budget tab

Above or beside the table, add Income (e.g. cell G2 = 3300).

Step 4: Paste the four formulas

Spent per category (C2, then drag down): =SUMIF(Transactions!C:C, A2, Transactions!D:D)

Left per category (D2, then drag down): =B2-C2

Totals (row 8, under the table): =SUM(B2:B7) =SUM(C2:C7) =SUM(D2:D7)

Unassigned money (G3), so you know if the plan fits your income: =G2-SUM(B2:B7)

If G3 is above zero, give those dollars a job (savings or debt). If it's negative, the plan is bigger than your income; trim a category.

Step 5: Make overspending obvious

Select D2:D7 > Format > Conditional formatting > "Less than" 0 > red fill. Any category you've overspent turns red right away.

Step 6: Add a chart (optional)

Select A1:A7 and C1:C7 > Insert > Chart > Pie chart. You'll see where the money went this month at a glance.

Step 7: Copy the tab each month

Right-click the Budget tab > Duplicate, rename it (e.g. "Nov"), and clear the Transactions rows or add a Month column and use SUMIFS to filter by month: =SUMIFS(Transactions!D:D, Transactions!C:C, A2, Transactions!E:E, "Nov")

Holiday season? The same idea works for gifts: see Christmas budget spreadsheet with caps per person.

Common snags

• SUMIF returns 0: the category spelling doesn't match exactly (extra space, capital letter). The dropdown fixes this.
• Amounts typed as text (left-aligned): select the column > Format > Number > Currency.
• Formula shows as text: it must start with =.
• Refunds: enter as negative amounts in the same category.

Using Excel instead? See how to make a budget in Excel (Excel Table + SUMIFS).

Template vs. building your own

Building it yourself teaches you how it works. If you'd rather skip setup, start with our free Starter Budget Sheet, or the Paycheck Budget Planner ($7), which lists every paycheck for the year and assigns each bill to the paycheck before its due date (an .xlsx for Excel that also opens in Google Sheets). Either way, the habit matters more than the spreadsheet: log purchases a few times a week and check the Left column before you spend.

Made with AI assistance and reviewed before release.

Related template: Paycheck Budget Planner. Also see: free Starter Budget Sheet · 2027 Budget Planner

See all Cedar & Ledger templates

Try the free 50/30/20 budget calculator →