How to Set Up a Monthly Budget Template
Product guide
It does the arithmetic. You just log what you spent.
Most budget spreadsheets hand you a grid and leave the thinking to you. This one works the other way round: you log what you spent, and the month recalculates — what is left to assign, which category has gone over, when the next bill lands, and what that does to your debt-free date. Here is how to set it up and use every part of it.
- 3 editions: app, Google Sheets, Excel
- $24 once, no subscription
- About 10 minutes to set up
- Works offline
- No bank connection
What this budget template actually does
A grid of cells tells you what happened. This tells you what is happening, while there is still time to change it. Five things do the work:
Tells you what is left before you spend it
Not at the end of the month — now, per category, as you log each transaction.
Remembers the bills you forget
Annual renewals and quarterly payments sit on a calendar with due dates, marked paid, due, overdue or on autopay.
Turns debt into a date
Avalanche or snowball, worked from your own balances and rates, so you can see what another $50 a month buys you in months.
Gives every goal a monthly figure
A target and a date in, the amount to set aside each month — and per paycheck — out. It is the number most budgets leave you to guess.
Setting it up
One purchase gives you all three editions, so pick the one that suits how you work. You can use more than one; they do not sync with each other.
The app
Any modern browser. No install.
- Check your email for the Darzen username and password we send right after checkout.
- Sign in at account.darzenstore.com and open Darzen Budget.
- Download the app and open it in your browser.
- Sign in once. After that it works offline, on up to two devices.
Google Sheets
A free Google account.
- Sign in to your Darzen account and open the Google Sheets edition.
- Choose Make a copy. Your copy lands in your own Google Drive.
- Rename it if you like, then start on the first tab.
Excel
Excel 2010 or later, Mac or Windows, or Excel for the web. No macros.
- Sign in to your Darzen account and download the Excel workbook.
- You get two files: a blank copy, and an example copy already filled in.
- Open the example first to see how it behaves, then work in the blank one.
How to use it, screen by screen
The walkthrough below follows the app, and the Google Sheets and Excel editions carry the same tabs in the same order.
Start with the month
Enter your income for the month, then look at Left to assign. That figure is the whole point: money that has no job yet. Give it one — a category, a goal or a debt — and it drops to zero. If your pay is biweekly, the app flags the two months a year that carry a third paycheck, so you can assign it deliberately instead of absorbing it.
Give every category a plan
Set a planned amount per category once. From then on you see planned against spent, line by line, with anything past its plan marked. The plan is not the point — spotting the one category eating the month, while you can still move money, is.
Put the bills on a calendar
Add each bill with its due date and mark it paid, due, overdue or on autopay. Export them to the calendar you already use, so the reminder arrives where you will actually see it — which is the difference between a late fee and a paid bill.
Choose a payoff method and get a date
List every card and loan with its balance and rate, then choose avalanche (highest rate first) or snowball (smallest balance first). The template works out the payoff order and the month you finish. Change what you pay extra and the date moves.
Give each savings goal its monthly figure
Each goal carries a target and a date, and the template returns what to set aside each month, and per paycheck, to arrive on time. Add the goal to your plan and it competes for the same money as everything else — which is the honest way to see whether the date is real.
The same month in Google Sheets or Excel
The spreadsheet editions carry the same tabs — Dashboard, Monthly Budget, Budget Plan, Paycheck Plan, Transactions, Income, Bills, Debt Payoff, Savings Goals, Net Worth and Year in Review. The formulas are already written; you type in the input cells and the rest recalculates.
Try it right here
Before you buy, use the real thing. The demo is the app itself, loaded with a sample household — open it and change anything you like.
The real app, loaded with sample data, in its own tab. Nothing you type into it is saved.
Watch it run
A recording of the app in use — the same screens on a laptop and a phone, with sample data. No slideshow, no mock-ups.
Questions people ask first
Does it connect to my bank?
No. Nothing connects to a bank or a card. You enter transactions yourself, which is also why your figures never leave your own device or Drive.
Is there a subscription?
No. It is one purchase of $24, and updates are free.
How do I get the files after I buy?
Right after checkout we email you a Darzen username and password. Sign in to your Darzen account to download the app and the Excel files, and to make your copy of the Google Sheets edition.
Can I start in the middle of a month?
Yes. Set the plan for the categories you have left and enter what you have already spent. The remaining figures recalculate from there.
Does it work if I am paid every two weeks?
Yes. The Paycheck Plan tab splits the month by paycheck, and the app flags the two months a year when a third paycheck lands.
Can I get my data out again?
Yes. Transactions export to CSV, bills export to a calendar file, and you can print a monthly report.
Does the app need the internet?
Only for the first sign-in. After that it works offline, on up to two devices, and your numbers stay in your browser rather than on a server.
Start with the month you are already in
One purchase, three editions, no subscription. If the part you keep losing is the month itself, this is where to start.