How to Use a Free Budget Calendar to Streamline Bill Payments

What is a budget calendar

A budget calendar tracks when large amounts of money come into and go out from your bank account each month. It’s like a roadmap that helps you stay on top of your payments throughout the month to make sure that you don’t miss a bill (and get charged extra fees or interest for it).

While surprises are usually fan, not so much when it comes to your bills and expenses.

How to use a budget calendar

If you plan to use your own budget calendar, there are three main budget categories of items you should log onto it.

• Regular income such as paychecks
• Irregular income, such as from a side hustle, if you know the date you are going to be paid out

Recurring bills
This includes payments with set dates each month, such as for:

• Mortgage/rent
• Utilities
• Water
• Electricity
• Phone
• Cable
• Car payment
• Credit cards
• Student loans
• Monthly bills

There are other recurring bills that come every few months that you can add to your calendar as well, like:

• Insurance payments
• Annual or monthly subscriptions
• Tax payments
• Donations

If you have a general routine for common expenses, such as buying gas or groceries once every week, you can add them to your calendar as well. List these with the estimated spend, since you won’t know the exact amount.

Non-recurring expenses
You aren’t limited to only recording your recurring expenses. If you have something coming up that you know you’ll need to spend some money on, you could choose to put it on your calendar also. Examples include:

• Children-related costs, like snacks for the next soccer game
• Gifts
• Clothing
• Entertainment
• Special occasions

Free budget calendars

Personal finance is all about picking what works best for you. Just as different people prefer different budgeting styles, there are all kinds of budget calendars too, some that may work better for you than others.

Budget calendar for Google calendar

If you’d like to track your bills using Google Calendar, grab our free template by clicking on the button below to automatically download to your device. You can import to your Google account by following the instructions right under the download button. All you have to do is change the dates and amounts from our sample entries to whatever your payment dates and amounts are.

How to import our download to your Google calendar:

• Download the .zip folder and extract the .ical file
• Open Google Calendar
• At the top right, click the gear icon, then Settings
• At the left, click Import & Export
• Click Select File from Your Computer and select the ical file
• Choose which calendar to add the imported events to (you can create a new calendar just to keep these events, or add them to your existing calendar)
• Click Import

Budget calendar app

If you prefer to manage your money with modern technology, getting a premium membership with Undebt.it, our favorite debt management tool, is the way to go.

Sign up for a 30-day free trial to see if it’s right for you. It’s 100% risk-free, since no payment info is required and your account will simply revert back to the free version once the trial is over.

Budget calendar printable

If you want something simple yet vibrant, check out this bill payment budget calendar. (via Clean and Scentsible)

Budget calendar excel spreadsheet

This Excel budget spreadsheet that lets you enter your bills in a calendar style view and then auto-magically totals your monthly spend. (via Vertex 42)

Annual budget calendar printable

For something that is broken down by month but shows you the entire year on a single page, try this budget plan. (via Freebie Finding Mom)

Conclusion

A budget calendar is a simple tool that can help you get your finances organized in no time (get it?). Use any of these free budget printables, budgeting Excel spreadsheets, and digital budgeting apps to make tracking your bills a breeze.

LEARN MORE TO EARN MORE:

Free Bill Payment Tracker