Leaving home for college is a wonderful experience until you realize how much everything costs just to live. The Easy Excel College Budget can help you organize your income, expenses, and semester costs for each month.
How to use the Easy Excel College Budget
Once you have downloaded the spreadsheet from the link below, begin by entering the number of months in your semester in the white box to the right. The rest of the gray boxed area can be ignored for now.
The green box on the right is for your income each month. Enter in how much you receive monthly from your sources, and the total will calculate it for you. Next, move below and fill in the entire semester costs for college. This is not monthly, but the length of the semester. Again, the total will be calculated for you.
In the bottom orange portion to the right, there are categories already in place for you to fill in expenses. You can leave some blank if they don’t apply, or change the category name if there is another expense.
Move back up to the gray top box. On the left is a long green bar showing your total amount of income. On the right is a long orange box that shows what you spend (expenses) and what your semester costs are divided into monthly payments. The green and orange boxes above show the totals in comparisons, and to the right is the amount you are over or under in expenses vs income.
Tips on using the Easy Excel College Budget
- Adjust this template throughout the semester if your expenses or income changes. This will automatically update your charts so you can easily track your budget.
- Keep a copy of the template handy so you can reference it when you’re unsure about spending money.
Download the Easy Excel College Budget
Template courtesy of Microsoft
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