Household Budget Planner
Plan income and spending, record what actually happens, track bills, goals and debt, and see what is left this month.
100% free. Runs entirely in your browser - your files and data never leave your device and nothing is uploaded to any server.
What the household budget planner does
A monthly budget works when the plan and what actually happens sit side by side. This planner keeps both: you set a planned amount for each category - income, bills, everyday spending, savings and debt payments - then record transactions as they happen. Actual figures always come from those transactions, so the plan, the ledger and the reports can never disagree. Recurring bills generate their own due dates, savings goals track what is set aside, and debts show a tracked balance with an optional payoff estimate. Everything is saved in your browser on this device - there is no account and nothing is sent to a server.
How to use this tool
- Set up the monthChoose a currency, the first month and your opening spendable balance - the money you can spend from, not money already in savings. Pick a template such as Couple or Family for a starting set of categories.
- Plan each categoryEnter planned amounts on the Budget tab. The unallocated figure shows how much planned income has not been given a job yet; zero means a zero-based budget.
- Add recurring billsAdd rent, energy, phone and subscriptions once with their schedule. Each due date appears on the Bills tab with its status.
- Record what happensAdd income, spending, savings and debt payments as positive amounts - the type sets the direction. Pay a bill from the Bills tab to link the payment to it, or import a bank CSV.
- Review and roll forwardCheck planned vs actual, the forecast and the reports, then copy the plan into next month. Only categories and planned amounts are copied, never transactions.
Planned versus actual
Each category shows its planned amount, the actual amount from your transactions, and the difference. For income the difference is actual minus planned, so a positive number means more came in than expected. For bills, spending, savings and debt it is planned minus actual, so a positive number means you spent less than planned. Over-budget amounts are shown in full rather than capped at 100%.
A refund is recorded against the category of the original payment. It reduces that category's spending and increases your spendable balance, but it is never counted as earned income. Debt payments are counted once, as debt payments, and not again as everyday expenses.
How the remaining money is calculated
Current spendable balance = opening balance + income received − bills paid − everyday spending − debt payments − net savings contributions. It is a budgeting figure from what you have entered, not a verified bank balance.
The forecast month-end balance adds the planned income you have not received yet and subtracts what is still reserved for each category. A category reserves the larger of its remaining plan or its unpaid bills, so a bill that is already part of a category plan is only counted once.
Safe to spend is an optional, more cautious estimate: the current balance minus every remaining reserve, with unreceived income left out. If it is negative the planner shows the shortfall. The daily allowance divides the money left for everyday spending by the days remaining in the month, today included, so it changes as the month goes on and as you record spending.
Saving, backups and privacy
Your budget is saved automatically in this browser on this device. It is not encrypted by the planner, and clearing your browser's site data removes it, so download a JSON backup from Export now and then - the planner reminds you. A backup can be restored here or in another browser after it has been checked, and you see a preview before anything is replaced.
If the planner is open in two tabs and both change the same budget, it asks which version to keep instead of silently overwriting the newer one.
Limitations
- One currency per budget. Changing the currency relabels amounts; it does not convert them at an exchange rate.
- No bank connection, cloud sync or shared household login - data stays in one browser unless you move a backup yourself.
- Bill reminders appear inside the planner when you open it. No emails or notifications are sent.
- Debt payoff and snowball/avalanche figures are estimates using a simple monthly-interest model, not lender statements.
- The planner is a budgeting aid, not financial, tax or legal advice.
Key features
- Planned vs actual for every category, with actuals taken from the transaction ledger.
- Recurring bills with weekly, fortnightly, monthly, quarterly, yearly and one-off schedules, part payments and paid status.
- Savings goals and sinking funds, debt balances and payoff estimates.
- CSV import with column mapping, plus CSV, JSON backup, print and PDF exports.
Common uses
- A couple sharing bills who want to see who paid what and what is left for the month.
- A student keeping rent, food and travel inside a loan instalment.
- A freelancer with uneven income who plans conservatively with safe-to-spend.
- A family moving from a paper or spreadsheet budget to something that adds up for them.
Tips for better results
- Leave money already in savings out of the opening balance - add it to a goal as "already saved" instead.
- Record bill payments with Pay on the Bills tab so the bill shows as paid and is not reserved twice.
- Use carry-forward so next month starts from this month's closing balance without retyping it.
- Download a backup after a big session of entries.
Mistakes to avoid
- Typing spending as a negative number - amounts are always positive and the type sets the direction.
- Recording a refund as income, which inflates income and hides what the category really cost.
- Recording a transfer between your own accounts as spending when both accounts are part of the budget.
Frequently asked questions
Yes. It runs in your browser with no account or signup.
In this browser on this device, using the browser's own storage. Nothing is uploaded. Clearing site data removes it, so keep a JSON backup.
Each browser keeps its own copy. Export a backup on one device and restore it on the other; there is no automatic sync.
GBP, USD, EUR, PKR, INR, AED, SAR, CAD and AUD, plus JPY and KWD. Amounts follow each currency's decimal places.
Yes, as a CSV file. You map the date, amount or debit/credit, description and category columns, choose the date format when it is ambiguous, review duplicates and problem rows, and can undo the import afterwards.
No. Copying a plan brings categories and planned amounts only. Transactions are never copied.
Yes, as an optional comparison. Each category is classed as a need, a want or savings and debt, the target percentages can be changed, and each payment counts in one bucket only.
Overdue and upcoming bills show on the Overview and Bills tabs whenever you open the planner. It does not send emails or notifications.