Introduction

Managing money is not easy, lets accept it. It is almost like a puzzle.

One day you’re paying for groceries, the next it’s school fees, and before you know it, your wallet is looking a bit too light.

As a family man myself, I know how tricky it is to juggle between expenses like rent, house help, and those big festival spends.

That’s why I’m excited to share a free budgeting tool. Use the tool, download your entries and paste it in your excel file. This way you’ll have a history of all your monthly expenses.

I will also some quick advice to help you take control of your finances.

Let’s dive in and make budgeting less stressful.

Why Budgeting Feels Tough

Living in this modern and ever evolving world, our expenses are unique.

We’re not just paying for rent or electricity. There’s the maid’s salary, DTH bills, and those extra costs for Diwali or a cousin’s wedding.

A 2023 report by the National Sample Survey Office showed that Indian households spend about 45% of their income on essentials like food and housing (read more here). That’s a big chunk of our salary into these two basic essentials. And with prices rising, like onions and tomatoes selling at Rs.80 a kilo sometimes, it’s easy to lose track of all budgets.

I remember my aunt once telling me how she had to undergo home repairs and as a result had barely left for her kids’ school books.

It’s a common story. Without a plan, money slips away.

That’s where budgeting comes in.

It’s like a roadmap for your cash, helping you decide where every rupee goes.

This is where a budgeting tool like above helps. It is based on a simple budgeting rule.

Meet the 50/30/20 Rule: Your Budgeting Best Friend

Have you heard of the 50/30/20 rule?

It’s a simple way to split your income.

• Half goes to needs, like rent and groceries.
• Thirty percent is for wants, like movies or a new kurta.
• Twinty percent is for savings or paying off loans.

I like this rule because it’s not rigid. It gives you room to enjoy life while staying responsible.

I think this rule works well but needs a tweak for people who live in Metros like Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Bangalore, etc. For example, rent in cities like Bengaluru or Delhi can eat up more than 30% of your income. A 2024 study by Knight Frank India said average rents in metro cities rose by 7% last year (read more here). So, you might need to adjust the percentages a bit.

Our budgeting tool above uses this rule as a starting point.

You just enter your income, and it shows you how much (what exact amount) to allocate for each category.

How My Budgeting Tool Works

Let me walk you through my tool.

It’s like a calculator but it is customized to suit our budgeting and expense tracking needs.

I built it keeping the busy Indian families in mind.

During my initial days in job, I used to struggled to track small expenses, like a small Rs.50 monthly mobile recharge. My tool makes it possible to record almost all types of expenses.

How to start:

• First, you pick a month and enter your take-home income. Say you earn Rs.50,000 a month. Here, the tool suggests Rs.25,000 for needs (50%), Rs.15,000 for wants (30%), and Rs.10,000 for savings or investments.
• Next, you can start adding your expenses. There are ready-made categories like “House Rent / Loan EMI” or “Entertainment – Dining Out.” Forgot something? No problem. You can create custom categories too.
• Net step is review. As you add expenses, the tool shows a progress bar for each category. If you spend too much on wants, you’ll see it turn red. Consider it as a gentle reminder to slow down. There’s also a pie chart to show very visually where your money’s going. I love this part because it’s like a reality check. For example, last month, I noticed I spent way too much on Entertainement – Dinning Out.
• Finally, you can even download your budget & expenses that you’ve logged in as a CSV file to keep or share with your family.

Real-Life Story

Let me tell you about my neighbor (once), Shalini.

She’s a schoolteacher in Chennai with two kids.

Her family earns about Rs.60,000 a month, but they were always short by month-end.

She started using a very similar tool last year. I coded it and give it to her.

Shalini listed her expenses: Rs.20,000 for rent, Rs.8,000 for groceries, Rs.5,000 for school fees, and so on. The tool showed she was spending Rs.18,000 on wants, like eating out and toys for her kids. The pie chart was a wake-up call. Shalini cut back on dining out and put Rs.5,000 more into savings. Now, she’s building an emergency fund.

She told me, “This tool made me see where my money was going. It’s like turning on a light in a dark finance room.”

That’s the kind of clarity I want for you too.

Practical Tips

Budgeting and expense tracking isn’t just about tools, it is more about habits.

People who do not budget and track their expenses, for them a regularly recording all the expenses is like an obsessive behaviour. But in reality, this one habit can change lives.

When I started, I’d forget to track small things like samosa or tea at the office huddles.

Over time, I learned a few tricks.

Always start with your needs. Rent, electricity, and groceries come first. In 2024, the average Indian family spends Rs.12,000 a month on food, per a NielsenIQ report. So, plan for that before buying those fancy earphones.

Festivals are a big deal in India. Diwali, Holi, or Eid can mean extra spending.

Last year, I overspent on gifts and had to dip into savings. Now, I set aside Rs.2,000 a month for festivals using the tool’s “Entertainment” category.

It’s a small step, but it saves stress.

Also, don’t skip savings for the rainy day. Even Rs.2,500 a month in an emergency fund can be a lifesaver if your bike breaks down.

Mistakes We All Make (And How to Fix Them)

I’ve made my share of budgeting blunders.

One big one? Ignoring small expenses.

That Rs.65 auto ride or Rs.250 for a chai break adds up. There are reports which saya that Indian households spend 10–15% of income on unplanned costs. That is why I’ve inserted “Unplanned Expenses” category in my budgeting tool to track these.

Another mistake is overestimating income.

If you CTC is say Rs.50,000, don’t budget based on that. Taxes and deductions might leave you with Rs.45,000. Always use your take-home pay.

And please, don’t neglect savings. I know it’s tempting to spend that extra Rs.5,000 on movies and clothes, but future you will thank you for saving it.

Why This Tool Is Perfect – I Think

There are tons of budgeting apps out there, but many feel foreign.

They talk about “mortgages” or “401(k)s,” which don’t apply to us.

Our tool is different.

It’s built for Indian lives, with categories like “House Help (Maid)” and “Kids – School Bus Bills.”

It’s free, works on your phone or laptop, and doesn’t need any downloads.

The CSV export is another feature that makes it extra useful.

You can open it in Excel or share it with your spouse. There is a financial planner who emailed me once to tell me how much he loves this feature. He says it helps his clients see spending patterns.

A Few Budgeting Hacks I Wish I Knew Earlier

Let me share some hacks that worked for me.

• First, review your budget monthly. Life changes, maybe your rent goes up or you get a bonus. Use the tool’s month selector to start fresh each time.
• Second, talk to your family. My wife and I sit down every Sunday to update our expenses. It keeps us on the same page.
• Third, cut one small want. For me, it was reducing OTT subscriptions from may to only three (we used to pay for Netflix, Amazon Price, Sony LIV, Jio Hotstart, Zee5, etc. This way we saved about Rs.1,000 saved a month.
• Finally, set a goal. Maybe it’s saving Rs.20,000 for a vacation or Rs.10,000 for your kid’s tuition.

Seeing progress in the tool’s savings bar will make you feel extra good.

Finally

Money doesn’t have to be a mystery.

With our budgeting tool and a little discipline, you can plan your expenses, enjoy life, and save for the future.

I know it’s not always easy, trust me, I’ve been there. But every rupee you track is a step toward peace of mind.

So, what are you waiting for? Scroll up and try the tool.

Enter your income, add a few expenses, and see how it feels. Do not worry, no data gets saved in our servers. What you enter and download is yours, we do not save any data.

It takes five minutes, and it’s free.

If Shalini in Chennai can do it, so can you.

And if you find it helpful, share this post with your friends or family. Let’s all get better at managing our money, one budget at a time.

Have a happy saving and investing.

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