Personal budgeting sheet for Netherlands residents
Do you live in the Netherlands and find your head spinning from all the different costs of living, allowances and benefits? Use our pre-filled Excel template to track all your incoming and outgoing money – and get an idea of how much you have left over to invest or save at the end of each month.
Do you often sign up for new subscriptions without considering whether you can afford them? Do you find yourself in overdraft more often than not at the end of the month? Or do you simply want to have more money left over for fun things? Our Excel spreadsheet makes it easy to create a budget for yourself. It helps you list your monthly income and expenses, giving you better insight into your finances so you can finally set aside some savings.
Becoming more financially aware
Perhaps you’ve never realized that your unlimited data phone plan costs €60 a month, even though you’ve had it for over two years and mostly use WiFi. Or maybe you pay €200 a month for a parking permit, even though you can’t remember the last time you used your car.
We all have expenses that we keep paying out of habit—it’s such a waste! By creating a clear overview of your income and expenses, you can manage your money more consciously and make it easier to save each month. Whether you want to build up an emergency fund, pay off debts, or have more money for leisure, gaining control over your finances brings a sense of freedom and reduces money-related stress. No more sweaty palms from finding a blue envelope on your doormat!
The savings opportunities depend on your personal situation, but some quick wins could include: canceling Netflix, quitting the lottery, shopping at a more affordable supermarket, switching to a SIM-only phone plan, biking instead of taking public transport, or eating out one fewer time each month.
Free Google/Excel budgeting spreadsheet
To make tracking your income and expenses as easy as possible, we’ve created a free Excel spreadsheet for you to download: Personal Budgeting Sheet . Don’t have Excel? You can also use this link with Google Sheets. The sheet already includes examples of fixed expenses, such as rent and phone plans, as well as variable costs like clothing and dining out. Customize it by reviewing your bank account to see where your money goes.
Once you know how much you earn and where your money flows, you can create a budget for the upcoming month. Write down how much you want and can spend on subscriptions, clothing, transportation, etc., so you end the month with more savings than you currently do. Here are a few tips to help you handle money more cautiously:
- Withdraw the amount you want to spend on groceries for the week in cash at the start of the week.
- As soon as your paycheck arrives, transfer the amount you plan to save to your savings account.
- Set clear goals for your extra savings: Research your dream trip, confront the stress of your (student) loans, or calculate how much you’ll need for retirement.
Be realistic when setting a budget. Some expenses, like insurance, can’t be reduced immediately. Cutting back on others, like dining out, might take some adjustment. But with better insight into your income and expenses and a bit of discipline, it becomes much easier over time.
Good luck, and remember: small changes can have a significant impact in the long run!
Download the Excel spreadsheet: Personal Budgeting Sheet
Download the Google Sheet: Personal Budgeting Sheet
How the Excel spreadsheet works
The Excel spreadsheet comes pre-filled with formulas to help you quickly get an overview of your finances. If you’re unfamiliar with formulas, download our simple monthly budget version for Excel or Google Sheets, which includes examples.
For the version with formulas, here’s a brief explanation to make the most of it. The spreadsheet consists of multiple tabs: Budget per Month, Income, Expenses.
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Start by reviewing your account statements. Write down your income, such as salary or received reimbursements, in the “Income” tab. Record the date (in the same format as the example), the source, the amount, and the category it belongs to. For instance, all reimbursements could fall under the category “Reimbursements.” You can also add more categories here if needed. Ensure the category names match across all tabs.
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Do the same for your expenses. Record all payments in the “Expenses” tab. It doesn’t matter whether the payment occurred in October or November—income and expenses are automatically filtered by month. You can keep updating these tabs indefinitely.
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Verify that your entries appear in the monthly budget. For example, if you shopped at Albert Heijn and Jumbo on October 1st and 8th, these expenses would fall under the “Groceries” category. Since they occurred in October, they automatically appear in the “Budget October 2025” tab under the “Groceries” row. This means you don’t have to manually tally up all your supermarket visits or remember whether you’ve already added a specific receipt.
Adding more months
We’ve included tabs for three months, but you can easily copy them to add more months. Simply update the tab name with the new month.
By using this tool, you’ll not only gain better control over your finances but also set yourself up for long-term financial success.
If you create a new category in 'expenses' or 'income,' remember to also add it to the 'budget October 2025' tab (or 'budget November 2025,' depending on which month these income or expenses belong to). When creating a new row, don't forget to copy the formula from column B of the 'budget October 2025' tab:
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For the income tab:
=SUMIFS(income!C:C, income!A:A, ">="&$B$4, income!A:A, "<="&EOMONTH($B$4,0), income!D:D, "="&A7) -
For the expenses tab:
=SUMIFS(expenses!C:C, expenses!A:A, ">="&$B$4, expenses!A:A, "<="&EOMONTH($B$4,0), expenses!D:D, "="&A19)
Make sure to replace A7 with the corresponding row, e.g., A31 or A62.
Alexandra