Budgeting planners can be a great way to get you started on your journey to effective budgeting. If you want to save money, the first step is to find out where and how you spend your money.
By using a planner and writing down all your expenses, you’ll get a better sense of where you spend money and where you might be able to cut back.
This post will help you use budgeting planners to stop unnecessary spending, create and stick to a budget, and keep track of where your money goes. Here are 10 of my favorite budgeting planners.
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10 Best Budgeting Planners
No Time To Read Whole the Post?
Here are our Top 3 FAve Planners
- Clever Fox Budget Planner and Monthly Bill Organizer
- May Designs Budget Planner
- Clever Fox Budget Planner – Expense Tracker Notebook
10. Budgeting Workbook: Finance Monthly and Weekly Budget Planner
Pros
- Very simple to use
- Large size if you need space to write; 8.5″ by 11″
- Beautiful matte cover design
Cons
- Not enough expense lines
- Paper is thin; some pens bleed through the pages
Features + What We Think
The Budgeting Workbook has pages of monthly tracking and weekly expenses. You can write down all your monthly bills and keep track of when they’re due and how much they cost. As a result, you can track your everyday expenses for a better breakdown.
This budgeting planner is definitely one of those budget planners for beginners. It doesn’t provide many features or extra trackers. However, it’s great for tracking just your expenses and getting a feel for how much you spend on a daily basis.
The workbook has 148 pages and can be used any time, since there aren’t any dates already included, so you write in your own dates and use whenever you want.
9. Boxclever Press Budget Planner
Pros
- Monthly pockets for storing bills and receipts
- Lots of tracking features
- Includes a section for tracking holiday spending
Cons
- Pages are thin, some pens may bleed through
- No monthly calendar
- Not enough slots for recurring bills
Features + What We Think
This gorgeous planner is spiral bound so that you can lay it flat as you work. It has beautiful designs throughout to help you turn budgeting into a positive experience.
Each month has a page to track income and savings, a page for you to create your budget, three pages for tracking day-to-day spending, a summary page, and a pocket for storing papers.
In addition, this planner has a regular bill tracking section, where you can note the amount you spend on things like water, electricity, subscriptions, and gas on a monthly basis. Budget planners can help you get a handle on your spending, and this one is no exception.
8. Limitless Mindset Budget Book
Pros
- Comes with envelopes and stickers
- Each month is color-coded
- Two pockets, front and back
Cons
- Too many sections are pre-labeled, which means there isn’t much flexibility
- A little bit complicated for beginners
Features + What We Think
At 6″ by 9″, the Limitless Mindset Budget Book is a convenient size for carrying with you or leaving in your office at home. It has pockets for storing receipts and bills and several tracking features.
This planner is very goals-focused, and you start each month by writing your goals for the coming weeks. You can then create a budget, write down bills due, and track your expenses throughout the month, thereby getting closer to your goals.
At the end of the month, there is a review page to help you take stock of your spending habits and create positive changes for the next month. If you want to track more than just your daily spending, this could be the planner for you.
7. GoGirl Budget Planner – Monthly Financial Planner Organizer Budget Book
Pros
- Comes in two sizes, 5.7″ by 8.5″ or 5.3″ by 7.7″
- Available in several colors
- End of month reviews keep you on track
Cons
- Small size doesn’t fit bills and checks
- Not enough options for debt tracking
- No monthly calendar
Features + What We Think
The GoGirl Budget Planner is the perfect option for budgeting on the go. While the small size makes it difficult to store bills, checks, and other papers in the included pocket, it also makes it much more portable. This planner can fit in a purse so you can track on the go!
One reason this planner made the list is because it comes with several features, such as: debt trackers, monthly goals, monthly budgets, expense trackers, end-of-month reviews, savings trackers, and even a holiday tracking option.
The undated planner allows you to start budgeting anytime, and the end-of-month review helps you stay focused and actively work toward your goals. If you need a small, lightweight, straightforward budget planner, this is it!
6. Erin Condren Petite Planner Budget Book
Pros
- Month-at-a-glance page gives you a monthly overview to look back at
- Beautiful designs throughout to keep you motivated
- Small size means it’s extra portable
Cons
- Small size makes it difficult to store bills in the planner
- Not many options for keeping track of savings and debt
Features + What We Think
The Petite Planner is super lightweight and portable, so you can easily bring it with you and track your spending the second that money leaves your wallet.
A highlight of this planner is its month-at-a-glance sheet. This page lets you write down your goals for the month, your regular bills, and any specific purchases that are coming up.
The Petite Planner also provides a budget breakdown for you. With sections like “car payments,” “pet care,” and “food,” you can track all the important things for an easy budget breakdown. Therefore, this planner is a great option if you’re new to budgeting and don’t know where to start.
5. Clever Fox Budget Book
Pros
- Small and portable at 5.3″ by 7.7″
- Tons of features
- Comes with a manual to help you get started
Cons
- No monthly calendar
- Only enough stickers for eight months
- Not enough space if you have multiple income sources
Features + What We Think
Each month of the Clever Fox Budget Book comes with eight pages: two pages of monthly budgeting, four pages for expense tracking, and two pages for a monthly review. In addition, there are saving trackers, debt trackers, and an annual summary.
The Clever Fox Budget Book has a PU leather cover, an elastic band to keep it closed, and comes with a pocket and stickers. All of this combines to make it a convenient and effective budgeting book.
As you’ll see, there are a few different Clever Fox planners included in this list. This is one of the most bare bones, but it has the basics for someone starting out budgeting. In conclusion, it’s intuitive, easy to use, and can be a great way to enter the world of budgeting.
4. Mead Organizher Expense Tracker, Budget Planner & Expense Organizer
Pros
- Larger size, 8.5″ by 11″ for easier reading and more space
- Twelve monthly pockets
- Can add pages
- Undated calendar
Cons
- Thin pages
- Fairly simple, with few features; mostly just expense tracking
Features + What We Think
The Mead Organizher planner is essentially a large binder to which you can add and remove pages as necessary. It comes with undated calendar pages and expense tracking, so you can get started any time of year and reuse this year to year.
Although the paper in this binder is not especially thick or durable, the binder itself is sturdy, and Mead offers downloads for replacement pages on their website.
This is a great simple budget planner. You can write down the due date of all bills to get a big picture of your bill spending. In addition, you can track other expenses throughout the month to see just how much you spend and where you could cut spending.
3. Clever Fox Budget Planner – Expense Tracker Notebook
Pros
- Tons of color choices
- Comes with a user manual to get you started on budgeting
- End-of-month review page
- Extra stickers
Cons
- Not enough space for additional income
- Font is too light; difficult to read
- Calendar is too small
Features + What We Think
The primary difference between the Clever Fox Budget Planner and Budget Book is the size. Conveniently, the Budget Planner is 5.8″ by 8.3″, so it can fit plenty of extra receipts, bills, and tracking.
This planner has a section at the beginning of each month where you can outline your budget for that month. It then provides sheets where you can track every expense that month. Finally, you have a section to review your spending habits at the end of the month in preparation for the next month.
The Clever Fox journal is sturdy, durable, and a great size for leaving in your office or bringing with you in a backpack when you go to work or school. In other words, it gives you some flexibility for your tracking while paving out some structure to get you started.
2. May Designs Budget Planner
Pros
- Portable size, 5″ by 8″
- Eighteen months included
- Includes pages for taking notes
- Allows for some customization so you can get exactly what you want
Cons
- Not a very detailed budget breakdown
- Only two lines for tracking income
- Not many additional features
Features + What We Think
The May Designs Budget Planner is great because it comes with a lot of customization options; you can even add your name to the cover!
This planner is definitely more on the simple side, with a page to add your monthly bills and income and then weekly pages where you can keep track of your day to day spending.
One great feature is that May Designs offers several sizes. The classic, 5″ by 8″; the mini, which is 4″ by 5.75″, and the large, 7.5″ by 9.75″. Because there are smaller options than other planners, this could be a great supplementary planner to always carry with you.
1. Clever Fox Budget Planner and Monthly Bill Organizer
Pros
- Sections divided by colors
- Plenty of additional features and tracking options
- Monthly calendars
Cons
- Undated, but only good for one year
- Calendar is too small to write in
- Not the most secure binding
Features + What We Think
This Clever Fox Planner and Organizer is spiral bound. Although some users had difficulties with the binding, I personally am a fan of spiral bound, since you can lay it flat to write. This planner is also a bit larger than others, at 8″ by 9.5″, so you have plenty of space to write.
The Clever Fox Planner and Organizer comes with several pockets for receipts and bills, spending trackers, debt trackers, a monthly planning sheet, and a monthly review sheet.
This planner has a lot of options for tracking, and it’s laid out in such a way that you can easily get to the page you need and keep track of your spending, income, and savings.
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Final Thoughts
Not sure how to start with budgeting? Try purchasing one of the budgeting planners listed above. A planner can get you started on creating a budget, but more importantly it can help you visualize just how much money you spend.
Often we aren’t aware how much we are spending on food, clothing, or entertainment. Writing down all these costs makes it easier to actually focus on improving your spending habits.
What are you waiting for? Choose the planner with a useful source that looks best to you and get started. These planners are all undated, so you can start budgeting as soon as you get your budgeting planners.
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