5 Free Weekly Budget Templates for Excel

Whether you are paid monthly, bi-monthly, or weekly, you need a proper weekly budget to manage your finances. Budgeting every week works efficiently for those who get paid every week. However, a weekly budget can still be used by other individuals who do not receive their weekly income.

Since humans tend to organize their work and live once a week, using a weekly budget is beneficial for managing one’s finances. Whether it is gas money to go to work for the week or what to spend on the weekend, using a weekly budget is the financial solution you need for your financial goals. You can create a weekly budget that will allow you to track how much you earn and spend throughout the week.

Creating a weekly budget means knowing how much you can comfortably spend every week after clearing all your expenses and bills. With a well-designed weekly budget, you can make better and wiser monetary evaluations and decisions. In addition, the weekly budget is meant to save you from unnecessary purchases like constantly buying shoes or eating out.

Also, weekly budgeting will ensure you always spend within your financial abilities. Budgeting is an effective and efficient way of organizing your finances. Therefore, when creating a weekly budget, paying attention to how much you are earning and spending is essential.

In this article, you will learn more about the importance of weekly budgeting, practical budgeting tips, and how to prepare a budget.

Creating a weekly budget can be hectic and challenging, given that you have to balance and account for your finances. A weekly budget should contain all the necessary bills and expenses that you are supposed to pay. It should also list short-term and long-term goals you would love to achieve. Budgeting works the same for monthly and weekly arrangements. However, starting with a monthly budget is appropriate, given that most bills are paid monthly.

Therefore, you need to know your total income and expenses to create an effective and complete weekly budget. To make this easier, we have a weekly budget template you can access and download for free on our website. Our weekly budget template will allow you to create a budget that complements your financial abilities effortlessly.

So, start budgeting today with our free downloadable weekly budget template!

To ensure you get your finances right, you need to budget. Doing weekly budgeting can be a good start for financial management. That way, you will keep your finances in order and avoid a financial crisis, which means you can afford basic needs.

Below is why weekly budgeting is crucial:

Track your spending habits

Many people believe budgeting is a way of limiting your financial power. However, weekly budgeting allows you to know and understand your spending habits. Additionally, a weekly budget will allow you to see every purchase made throughout the week. By doing this, you will remember when and why a specific purchase was made and how much was spent in the process.

This will help you to avoid unnecessary spending and help you plan and budget for the major expenses like rent, electricity bills, and so much more.

Simple to allocate funds

When creating a weekly budget, you will clearly understand what you desperately need to buy and what can wait or be avoided entirely. In addition, it is easier to calculate how much you need for the week once you have a complete and accurate budget. This will allow you to allocate funds correctly and avoid impulse buying and spending.

Motivates weekly payments

Having a weekly budget will allow you to know any pending bills or payments that need to be cleared. In addition, with a weekly budget, you will be encouraged to pay for your bills or make savings weekly. Weekly payments are advantageous because they make it easy for you to deal with hectic or pressing bills like credit card payments.

Additionally, making weekly payments, no matter how small, is beneficial because they allow you to see your progress towards attaining your financial goals.

Helps you avoid paying extra money

It would be best to see where and how you spend your money. This is achievable if you do weekly budgeting. Making weekly payments may be hectic and challenging, but it helps you avoid paying extra interest by waiting to make monthly payments. Instead, you can divide your monthly expenses so that they can fit into your weekly budget. This way, you will be able to make clear all payments on time and avoid paying extra cash for late or delayed payments.

Makes you regain control every week

Having control over your finances is very comforting and satisfying. Budgeting gives you control over your finances as it allows you to prioritize when and how to spend your money. Also, you will be able to track your financial progress, which includes payment of bills and savings. Moreover, you can make financial adjustments efficiently and effectively if needed.

Budgeting helps you plan and prepare for the future and gain total control over your finances.

Budgeting goals

We all strive to gain financial stability and independence as fast as we can. However, one of the most effective and efficient ways of gaining financial stability is weekly budgeting your money before spending it. Therefore, when creating a budget, you must have the following goals you should achieve.

Envision your financial future

A weekly budget will allow you to spend your earnings correctly. When making a budget, you need to have a vision of how you want your finances to help you in the future. However, make sure that your visions are realistic and attainable. Also, decide on the lifestyle you want to adapt to in the future.

With your envisioned future, you will be motivated to work towards gaining financial stability, which will allow you to fund the lifestyle that you desire.

Calculate your assets

It is important to know how much your net worth is. This can be calculated by adding up all your finances and assets. This may include checks, savings, retirement funds (if applicable), investments, and all your properties, including your house, cars, and any significant property you own.

Knowing your financial net worth will allow you to set attainable financial goals when creating a weekly budget. The budget should be created to improve your financial well-being.

Determine short and long-term goals

Short-term goals are objectives that can be attained in a short period, like under a year. When creating a list of short-term goals, ensure they are realistic and attainable. These short-term goals should not make you strain financially. Once you have a list of your short-term goals, select the ones that are within your financial power and that you can comfortably accomplish. To attain short-term goals, you should put funds aside every week. This should be done while staying within the budget.

Long-term goals are ambitions that can be achieved in over a year. However, these ambitions can take up to 5 years to accomplish. Long-term goals include buying a new home or car or making huge investments. In your budget, list these goals, when you want to achieve them, and how much they will cost you. Daily savings and budgeting to attain your long-term goals would be best.

It is crucial to maintain financial discipline if you want to achieve both short-term and long-term goals.

Enlist your goals in the budget as expenses

After listing your goals, select the ones you will prioritize and focus on. Remember, these goals should be realistic and attainable. Next, add your goals to the budget as expenses and see if you can comfortably manage without getting financial strain.

For example:

If you have an extra $100 free for savings each week, you must put aside $50 for your weekly goals. This will allow you to reach your goals and improve your saving habit.

Below are some things you should consider when making a weekly budget framework:

Gather all your paperwork

Before creating a weekly budget, gather all the receipts and documents with records of all the payments you have made in the last six months. These documents may include store receipts, loan payment statements, all monthly bills, bank statements, taxes, and so much more. The essence of these documents is to show you how you spend your money and what you spend it on.

Once your budget is ready, ensure that you have the records and receipts of all the payments you have made.

Calculate your weekly income

Before creating a weekly budget, you must know how much you earn. You can do this by summing up the incomes from all your sources. This includes your salary, interest from savings, investment income, tips, wages, commissions, and bonuses. Once you know the exact amount you generate in a month, you can comfortably create a budget that will provide you with financial security and stability.

Your budget should be created based on your net income after taxes and other deductions. This will allow you to work with a realistic amount, not your gross salary.

Enlist your expenses

Before creating a budget, you should have a list of all your monthly expenses. From this, you will be able to know all the expenses you incur per week. You can divide your monthly expenses by four weeks to determine how much you spend per week. Additionally, categorize all your expenses into discretionary and non-discretionary expenses. Categorizing your expenses will help you understand if you are spending more on luxury items or essentials.

Discretionary expenses

These are expenses that you can survive without. Discretionary expenses are considered to be luxury desires or needs. Therefore, if you want financial stability and freedom, you can minimize or completely do away with these expenses. Discretionary expenses include dining out, vacations, and purchasing luxury items. The amount set for such expenses should not exceed 30% of your total income.

Non-discretionary expenses

These are expenses that you cannot do without. They are bare essentials that help you survive and remain comfortable. Therefore, these are expenses that you cannot eliminate from your budget, either monthly or weekly. Non-discretionary expenses include rent, mortgages, groceries, and other unavoidable bills. The total for these non-discretionary expenses should be about 50% or less of your total monthly income.

Subtract your expenses from your total income

After creating a budget, tally up the cost of your expenses and subtract it from your total weekly income. The weekly expenses should include both discretionary and non-discretionary expenses. After the subtraction, if you have any money remaining, you can put it into interest-generating savings or use it to accomplish other objectives on the list.

However, you need to make quick and precise adjustments if you get a negative result after subtracting your expenses from your total income. By doing this, you will avoid unnecessary spending or falling into unwanted debts.

Make any necessary adjustments

After creating a budget and doing the subtraction, you get an even or a negative result, and then you need to review your spending and make the necessary adjustments. In this case, you can reduce your discretionary expenses to save cash. Additionally, you can adjust your weekly budget until you get your desired savings. This may not be easy, but it is crucial if you want to save up some extra cash.  

Track Your Expenses

After laying down your weekly budget, it is clear how much you can comfortably and safely spend per week. However, to ensure consistency in your weekly spending, you must figure out a way to track all your daily, weekly, and monthly expenses.

Below are ways you can use to track your weekly expenses:

• One way to track your expenses is by taking out the amount you need for the week. You can do this by withdrawing the amount you need from the bank. This way, you will be able to spend only what you have withdrawn and nothing extra. You can also use digital money, but ensure you only spend the money set aside for weekly expenses. This is where financial discipline comes in.
• At the beginning of every week, transfer the exact amount you need for the week to your debit card. Remember, the amount transferred should be the one you have allocated as the weekly safe-to-spend amount. If you have money remaining after your weekly purchase, you can put the money into savings or investments. With a debit card, you can monitor and regulate your spending. This way, you will not overspend on unnecessary purchases.
• If you find it challenging to transfer your weekly safe-to-use money to your account constantly, you can download and use it weekly. The app will link you to your current bank account and download your weekly money safely to your account. Additionally, the weekly budget app will enable you to keep track of all your expenses and help you easily track them.

Important: Understand the budget process. Whether setting up a weekly or monthly budget, remember that the budget process is the same. To ensure a proper weekly budget, start by creating a monthly budget since most of your recurring bills are monthly. In addition, the income and expenses sections in your monthly budget must also appear in your weekly budget.

Below are some budgeting tips that you should observe when creating your weekly budget:

Schedule a weekly budget planning

There are constant economic changes that we experience daily. As a result, it is crucial to monitor and update your weekly budget. Therefore, you can take time between the week, look at your budget, and make any needed adjustments. Additionally, while reviewing your weekly budget, you can add any extra expenses incurred during the week and any discounts received while purchasing.

Contact companies for bill reductions

There are companies which we regularly make purchases from. You should contact these companies to see if there are any offers, discounts, or programs that will help you save some cash. However, this is primarily applicable if you have been a constant client for a long time. When contacting these companies for possible bill reductions, it is important to show appreciation for their products and services and remain calm regardless of the outcome.

Use the bill payment tracking app

Technology has made it easier for us to accomplish our day-to-day tasks. Therefore, if you want to track your expenses and finances, you can use tracking apps, most of which are free. These apps can be used on your phone or computer. You can use these payment tracking apps to create a budget that best complements your financial abilities.

The data you enter in these apps will help you track your expenses and alert you when it’s time to pay your bills and the amount needed to clear the pending bills.

Gaining financial stability and freedom significantly depends on how much you earn and how well you use your income to pay all your bills, save, and invest weekly. Therefore, budgeting is essential, especially when trying to gain financial balance. Therefore, weekly budgeting will allow you to focus on the essentials and avoid unnecessary spending. In addition, it is crucial to look for tips and ways to gain control over your finances.

Additionally, you need to create a budget that complements your earnings. The weekly budget is meant to help you avoid unnecessary purchases and save cash. Therefore, it is highly recommended that you find a way to create a budget that suits you and your finances. This will give you total financial control and peace of mind as you go from week to week.