6 free financial planning worksheets for all uses [TEMPLATES]

A financial planning worksheet is a document or spreadsheet designed to help individuals, couples, or families understand their income versus expenses and reach their financial goals.

Reaching financial goals doesn’t have to be out of reach.

A financial planning worksheet is a tool to help individuals, couples, or families organize and analyze their financial information. It typically includes sections for tracking income and expenses, allowing users to get a clear snapshot of their current financial situation and progress toward their financial goals.

Keep reading to discover some key financial templates for individuals, family money management, and different phases of life.

Table of contents

• How to create a financial plan
• Financial planning worksheet
• Couple’s financial planning worksheet
• Divorce financial planning worksheet
• Household financial planning worksheet
• College financial planning worksheet
• Retirement financial planning worksheet
• Ways to save money
• Save a little or a lot with PayPal
• Frequently asked questions

How to create a financial plan

To create a successful financial plan, it’s important to consider general money management tips, like understanding income versus expenses. It’s also important to take a look at some specific aspects of the savings plan, including:

• Goals: What is the end goal of the financial plan? Is it just to understand the financial situation better, or is there a specific savings goal in mind?
• Income: The first thing to include in a financial plan is income. It includes all revenue streams, both active and passive.
• Expenses: Consider all expenses, from regular living expenses like rent or mortgage and utilities, to insurance, debt repayment, medical expenses, and subscription services like Netflix.

Below are six examples of different types of financial plans.

1. Financial planning worksheet

This basic free budget template is a good start for comparing income versus typical household expenses. This worksheet should help a person understand where their money is going and what adjustments they need to make to reach their financial goals. Eventually, they may choose to add savings contributions as a fixed expense.

In addition, the worksheet includes a section for goals, which can be adjusted based on the individual. Examples included are savings goals and debt repayment, such as saving $1,000 or paying off $2,000 in credit card debt.

2. Couple's financial planning worksheet

Entering into a long-term, committed relationship requires a lot of careful planning, not the least of which is financial planning. Creating a cohabitation or marriage financial planning worksheet gives both parties a better understanding of their separate income and expenses. It should paint a clear picture of where and how they can share expenses.

3. Divorce financial planning worksheet

Going through a significant relationship change can cause major financial changes. Making the adjustment from two sources of income to one, as well as sharing expenses, can be a big challenge.

Creating a divorce financial planning worksheet should help provide a better sense of a person’s financial situation, so they can begin planning for their life post-separation.

4. Household financial planning worksheet

The above household budget template uses total household income rather than individual income to create a financial plan. This way, the budget is a shared responsibility of all household members.

In order to create a household budget, everyone needs to provide their income information, as well as any individual expenses that may impact the household, such as car payments or student debt.

5. College financial planning worksheet

For a college student's financial plan, it's best to break things down by term. This exercise is ideally completed before the first term of college, giving the student a clearer picture of their expenses so that they can plan out the year.

The template can be adjusted to add in any potential income, such as a part-time job or irregular income like student grants, as well as any additional expenses.

6. Retirement financial planning worksheet

The main differences between a regular financial planning worksheet or monthly budget template and a retirement financial planning worksheet are:

1. The income sources
2. Planning for one-time expenses

Once retired, the assumption is that a person is no longer working and making a regular income, but is relying on their savings and pension. Therefore, their budget needs to reflect any one-time expenses that they should plan for.

Ways to save money

After identifying financial goals and typical income and expenses, it’s time to decide on a money management plan. There are many different ways to budget, each with different benefits.

1. 60/30/10 budget

The 60/30/10 budget is a method of spending and saving money that suggests that 60% of monthly take-home income should go towards essential expenses, 30% towards non-essential expenses, and 10% towards savings and debts. There are many variations of this type of budget. This method provides structure with flexibility.

2. Pay-yourself-first budget

Pay yourself first is a budgeting method that focuses on savings as the primary goal. People who use this budget type prioritize saving by first transferring a set amount of their income into savings, and then the remainder goes to expenses. This strategy can help build wealth consistently and ensure long-term financial security.

3. Cash stuffing

Also known as the envelope system, cash stuffing is where a person allocates physical cash into separate envelopes labeled with different spending categories, such as groceries, gas, or shopping, for a specific period, typically a month.

When the envelope is empty, they can’t spend any more in that category until the next period. This provides a tangible way to track spending, helping to prevent overspending and cultivate greater financial discipline.

4. Zero-based budgeting

With zero-based budgeting, each spending decision must be justified and approved for each new budget period, essentially starting from a "zero base”.

Unlike traditional budgeting that adjusts previous budgets, zero-based budgeting requires individuals or organizations to analyze and rationalize every cost, regardless of past spending, to ensure all funds are allocated efficiently and align with current goals. This approach aims to eliminate unnecessary expenses and promote greater financial accountability.