Need a monthly budget planner – here is everything you need to know!
I’m super excited to share with you some of the best budget planners on the market! I get it; budgeting can seem hard and feel overwhelming at first, but these budget planners are going to make the process a whole lot easier!
You have to start somewhere with budgeting, and the sooner you begin, the sooner you can figure out how your budget works, so it feels less overwhelming.
Besides, what better way to start budgeting than using one of the best budgeting planners out there? Not to mention all the options on this list are super cute!
What is a Budget Planner?
A budget planner book is a tool that you can use to store all of your financial information in one spot. It’s used to track your monthly bills, expenses, debt, savings, and more!
The most important part of a budget planner is that it helps you track every dollar that comes in and every dollar that goes out. It’s what you need to control your finances!
Why do you need a budget planner book?
I could go on and on about how budgeting with a budget planner has changed my life, it was a real game-changer for me, but I want to share how it can change yours too.
Having a budget planner allows you to budget your money properly. It provides you with a guide to taking total control of your money.
Without a budgeting planner, you wouldn’t have the resources available to organize your finances accurately, and you could be unknowingly allowing hundreds of dollars to slip through your fingers.
Here’s an important note and a common misconception about budgeting. Having a budget doesn’t mean limiting yourself to what you can or cannot buy. You’re simply prioritizing where every one of your hard-earned dollars goes.
What Is The Best Budget Planner?
There is no one-size-fits-all when it comes to budget planners. Everyone budgets differently; what one person likes doesn’t mean another will. I’d recommend reading reviews and checking out several budget binders before you pick the one that will work for you.
Don’t have time to read the entire article? I don’t blame you! Here are the links to our best budget planner books. If you want more information on each budget planner, read below.
1. Best Budgeting Notebook – (Instant printable budget bundle – I created)
2. Clever Fox Budget Planner & Bill Organizer
3. Clever Fox Budget Planner
4. Erin Condren Budget Planner (Petite)
5. GoGirl Budget Planner
6. The home Budget Workbook
7. Weekly and Monthly Budgeting Notebook
8. Balanced Budget Organizer
9. Clever Fox Budget Book
10. Legend Budget Planner 11. Mead Home Finance Organizer 12. Limitless Mindset Budget Planner 13. Simplified Budget Planner 14. Erin Condren Budget Book
14 of the Best Budget Planners and Binders
Are you ready to become successful at budgeting your money? Check out the best budget planner books below!
1. Best Budgeting Notebook
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| 90+ pages | It is a printable |
| Over 14 separate printables | |
| Download instantly | |
| 100% money-back guarantee | |
| Walks you through budgeting |
Of course, I had to start this list with our very own budgeting planner. Not because it’s ours but because I genuinely think it’s the best.
I’ve been using this family budget planner for years. This budget planner has helped hundreds of people take control of their finances.
It’s helped me pay off large amounts of debt, from student loans to our camper, car loans, and more. It even helped us build our six-figure retirement fund in our 20s.
This budget planner helped us stay completely debt-free, except for our mortgage; we are working on that.
What’s included in this budgeting planner:
- 12-month calendar
- Paycheck tracker
- Monthly expense tracker
- Debt tracker
- Savings tracker
- Emergency fund tracker
- Vacation budget planner
- & more
We even threw in two money-saving challenges for you just in case you want to challenge yourself to save money.
This monthly budget book is an instant printable, meaning you print it out. Click here to get all the details on this Budget Planner.
This Budget Planner works perfectly for the beginning budgeter. It’s simple to use and helps you easily organize your finances. When you combine it with the Debt Free Wannabe Workbook, you’ll have a budget that actually works and fits your lifestyle in no time at all!!
2. Clever Fox Budget Planner & Bill Organizer
If you are looking for a hardcover monthly budget book, this is it!! This monthly budgeting book literally covers all of the bases and has everything you need to become a successful budgeter.
This budget organizer book comes in second on my list for a reason! I’ve personally used this in the past, and if I didn’t love my personal budget planner, I’d still be using it!
So you might be wondering what’s so amazing about this budget organizer book. Well, you can either check it out for yourself here. Or keep reading!!
Clever Fox Budget Planner Features
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| It comes in many colors | It can’t fit in your purse |
| It’s large (8″ x 9.5″) | High price |
| Premium quality | |
| Money-back guarantee | |
| Everything you need to organize your finances | |
| Twin-wire binding |
What’s included in this monthly budget book:
- Financial goals worksheets
- Savings trackers
- Monthly budget
- Debt trackers
- Holiday budget tracker
- Bill tracking
- Expense trackers
- Monthly review
And that’s not it! This list keeps going with extras this Clever Fox budget book offers.
This Clever Fox budget book also includes monthly calendars, stickers, to-do sections, and monthly goals and has a pocket to store your bills or receipts throughout the year.
This is one of the best planners for beginners or even more advanced budgeters. Check it out! You won’t be disappointed.
3. Clever Fox Budget Planner
If you’re ready to take control of your finances, this budget planner book is for you!
This budget organizer made the list because it includes everything you need to manage your finances and meet your financial goals.
This best budget planner includes sheets to manage your:
- budget
- savings
- debt
- bill due dates
- cash flow
- payments and expenses
Clever Fox Budget Planner Features
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| It has everything you need in one place | The pages do not lay flat |
| No bleed paper | Overwhelming for some |
| Inner pocket for bills | |
| 12 months of organization | |
| Free stickers | |
| User manual available |
These sheets cover every category of budgeting that you will need to be successful with your budget.
The beginning of the budgeting planner includes a section to list your financial goals, as well as a “mind map” to plan how to meet those goals.
I found this to be a great section! After all, if you don’t set goals, chances are your budget won’t work.
You absolutely need goals to work towards!
Lastly, this Fox budgeting planner includes a section in the beginning to list the skills you will need to acquire and the actions you must take to meet your financial goals.
These skills could include anything from:
- Communicating effectively with your spouse about your new budget
- Add to your retirement funds regularly
- Budget to Zero each paycheck
These skills and actions don’t even have to relate to budgeting. It’s proven if you write something down and look at it often, you’re more likely to take action and achieve that goal.
4. Erin Condren Budget Planner (Petite)
Are you ready to reach your financial goals? If so, it all starts with a budget!
One of the reasons this makes the list for one of the best budget planners, besides the fact that it will help you with your finances, is its affordability!
This pretty personal budget book is one of the most affordable budget money planners I’ve come across. Not only that, but this Erin Condren budget planner is so cute and petite!
Yes, I know “cute” doesn’t help you with your finances, but the appearance of this petite planner budget book will make you excited to pull it out each and every day.
Erin Condren Budget Book Features
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| 12 months of financial planning | Small 5.7 x 8.25 |
| Four pages of debt tracking | Not enough space to write |
| One sticker sheet (106 stickers) | |
| A stylish budget planner that makes you want to budget | |
| It fits in your purse |
This Erin Condren money organizer includes:
- 12 months of budgeting
- bill tracker
- expense tracker
- budgeting spreads
- debt tracker
- 106 designer stickers & more
One of the best features of this budgeting book is the expense tracker. Keeping track of your daily expenses is crucial if you want to budget successfully.
If you enjoy taking your budget organizer book everywhere you go, like me, the size of this budget book allows you to do just that, as it is very small in size.
Who is this budget planner for:
- Anyone who is looking to pay off debt
- Someone who is looking to keep track of their daily expenses
- A great family budget planner
- An excellent budget planner for college students
- This would also be a great gift idea
If you’re ready to start your budgeting journey or are looking for more than an ordinary budgeting book, I highly recommend trying this one. You definitely won’t regret purchasing this Erin Condren petite planner budget book!
5. GoGirl Budget Planner
If you’re looking for a compact planner, this is the best budget planner for you. The dimensions come in at 5.3in x 7.7in, which is the smallest budgeting planner on the list.
If having a small budgeting planner that can easily fit in your purse is important to you, this GoGirl planner was made for you. Just remember, with its small size comes small wording.
This is a yearly budget planner that you can start at any time because you write in the month and the year.
This GoGirl budget planner includes:
- Financial goals and strategy
- Debt tracker
- Savings tracker
- Holiday budget
- Budget log
- Expense tracker
- Month in review
- Summary of the year
GoGirl Budget Planner Features
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Vegan cover | Small size |
| Inner pocket | Not enough room to write |
| Small and lightweight | |
| Built-in bookmark | |
| Bleed resistant paper | |
| Stickers included |
Each month starts with a spot to write down four monthly financial goals. This is an excellent feature because some of your financial goals will shift every month.
They also included a spot to record upcoming purchases. This is an extremely important feature because you need to budget for these future events. A holiday or birthday pops up unknowingly and can completely throw off your month’s budget.
If you are looking for a well-thought-out, undated budgeting planner, give this one a go.
6. The Home Budget Workbook
This user-friendly budget workbook has great reviews and is simple to use.
This budget planner is larger in size (10 1/4in x 7in), which is fine if you don’t plan on carrying it around in your purse. With its size being slightly larger, the wording is easier to read.
One of the drawbacks of this budgeting workbook is that there isn’t enough room to write in each space. The boxes are small.
This home budget planner includes:
- 48 un-dated pages
- Daily expense tracker sheets
- Planning goals
- Tips for managing your money
- Creating a balance sheet
- Notes & more
The Home Budget Planner Features
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Lays flat | Small boxes to fill in |
| Affordable | The cover is a flexible plastic |
| Easy to use | |
| Undated budget planner | |
| A must for keeping track of expenses |
This planner is one of the best monthly budget planners if you are looking for something to keep at home or in your car to record every daily expense.
The ability for this planner to lay completely flat when you write in it makes this planner easy to use. It would also be a great family planner and a reasonable personal budget book for a student who is just learning how to track their expenses.
7. Weekly and Monthly Budgeting Notebook
This weekly and monthly budget book is a quality planner with a very affordable price tag. It’s one of the most affordable budget organizers I was able to find online.
This budget planner book is 148 pages with a matte craft cover.
This paperback is the perfect budget planner if you’re beginning to learn how to budget your money.
This budget tracker book includes:
- Weekly expense tracker
- Monthly budget
Weekly & Monthly Budgeting Notebook Features
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Lightweight | It’s a paperback |
| Neatly organized | Same repetitive pages |
| 148 pages | |
| Larger budget notebook | |
| Enough room to write | |
| Inexpensive |
This planner is all about rinse and repeat. You write out your monthly budget and then record your expenses, trying to stay within the budget.
As I said, if you’re looking for an inexpensive budget planner, look no further. This is a great finance tracker book.
8. Your Balanced Budget Organizer
Unlike the typical budget planner, this balanced budget organizer covers up to 2 years, all within 48 pages if you’re looking for an easy-to-use, inexpensive planner that can be stored at home.
This personal budget book is a must-have!
This planner is spiral-bound, meaning it will lay completely flat, unlike similar small budgeting planners I’ve listed above.
This budget organizer includes:
- Income tracker
- Expense tracker
- Financial goal tracker
- Yearly goal tracker
Balanced Budget Organizer Features
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| User-friendly | Doesn’t fit in your purse |
| Covers up to 2 years | |
| Easy to use | |
| 48 pages | |
| Stays flat for ease of use |
If you’re ready for budgeting to become part of your life for the long haul, this is a great place to start. The affordability of this financial planning notebook blows my mind.
This planner really dives headfirst into recording expenses. This would be a good family budget planner or if you have a small business and you are looking to get straight to the point recording expenses.
9. Clever Fox Budget Book
I’m unsure why I saved one of the best budgeting books for last, but I did. This Clever Fox Budget Book is different than the Clever Fox Budget Planner mentioned above.
This fantastic Clever Fox planner has quite a bit of room to record your daily, monthly, and yearly expenses.
It also comes in an array of colors and is super compact (5.3″ x 7.7), making it easy to carry. Don’t let its small size fool you, though. This budget book gives you all the room you need.
This Clever Fox budget book includes:
- Bill tracker
- A yearly summary of expenses
- Savings tracker
- Debt tracker
- Expense tracker
- Monthly goals
Clever Fox Budget Planner Features
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| 75 free stickers | The print is small |
| No bleed paper | |
| User manual | |
| Different colors to choose from | |
| Inner pocket |
This elegant Fox budget planner is proven to work; if not, they give you your money back.
How awesome is that!
10. Legend Budget Planner
This legend planner has everything you need to budget your money each month successfully. If you are looking to keep your money organized each month, you must check out this Legend budget planner.
This budget journal has everything you need to track your expenses and budget your money successfully. Follow along below to see what all the Legend planners include!
This legend budget planner includes:
- Monthly calendar
- Financial goals
- Savings tracker
- Debt tracker
- Monthly budget
- Monthly budget review
- Expense tracker
- Bill tracker & more
Legend Budget Planner Features
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| It comes in multiple colors | N/A |
| 4.5 star rating on Amazon | |
| The cover is Faux Leather | |
| 109 stickers | |
| No bleed paper |
This budget journal also includes an assortment of stickers, an inner pocket, a pen loop, a ribbon bookmark, and more. It also comes with a money-back guarantee.
There isn’t a reason why you shouldn’t check out this Legend budget planner.
11. Mead Organizer Expense Tracker
If you are looking to organize your bills, the Mead budget planner is a great place to start. This one-of-a-kind financial organizer book will help you track your expenses and see where your money is truly going.
This Mead financial organizer includes:
- Calendar
- Worksheets to track expenses
- 12 pockets to hold your bills
- Two clear folders
Mead Home Finance Organizer Features
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| Stands up to wear and tear | Only a few color options |
| Affordable | Large |
| Pockets to hold cash | |
| Download and print additional pages |
One of my favorite parts of this particular budget planner book is that once you fill out all of the sheets, you can go online and download more. If you are a beginner budgeter looking to start tracking your expenses, this would be a great place to start.
12. Limitless Mindset Budget Planner
This budget book has everything you need to stay focused and hit your financial goals. What I like most, is the price tag. Not only does it have everything you need to be successful, but it’s inexpensive, which we all like.
The Limitless Mindset budget book includes:
- Income tracker
- Bill tracker
- Bill planner
- Savings tracker
- Goal tracker
Limitless Mindset Budget Book Features
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| 12 months undated | Redundant |
| Three cash envelopes | |
| Inexpensive | |
| 150 stickers | |
| Inner pocket |
This budget planner book does have 4.5 stars on Amazon! The only negative feedback I received was that it was repetitive. It has many of the same pages, just repeated repeatedly.
However, if you are looking for a budget book that’s inexpensive and comes with bonuses, such as stickers, a pen, and cash envelopes, this budget limitless mindset budget book is right up your alley.
13. Simplified Budget Planner
If you are looking for an affordable budget planner with all the features to be successful, look no further than the simplified budget planner! This simple budget planning tool has 4.5 stars for a reason. It comes with everything you would need in a budget planner.
Its undated pages make it so you can start using the planner any time of the year. It also comes with a pen holder and elastic closure band.
This simplified planner is smaller, which some prefer, at 5.5×8″. The smaller size also means a smaller font, but that’s fine for some. This might not be your ideal budget planner if you like a larger font.
The simplified budget planner includes the following:
- Monthly income tracker
- Savings tracker
- Expense tracker
- Monthly bill tracker
- End-of-year review & more
Simplified Budget Planner Features
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| 12-month organizer | Small print |
| 12-month undated organizer | |
| 97 budget stickers | |
| 12 monthly tabs | |
| No bleed paper |
If you are looking for the best budget planner notebook, this one definitely makes the cut. For more details on this budget planner and other top budget planners, check out the details in the link below.
14. Erin Condren Financial Planner Book
Wow, this budget book really “has it all!” This financial planner notebook isn’t only gorgeous, but it contains everything you would need to be successful at budgeting. You can set, track, and achieve your financial goals in one spot!
| Pros | Cons |
|---|---|
| You can personalize it | N/A |
| Very appealing/ gold coil | |
| Sturdy laminate cover | |
| Comes with stickers | |
| 13 Monthly tabs/ 160 pages |
Let’s start with the cover! This customizable daily planner can be personalized. This means you can add your first and last name to the cover. If adding your name to the cover of your financial notebook isn’t something you are interested maybe add your favorite quote.
This money planner book contains 160 pages, double what the Erin Condren petite budget planner has.
The Erin Condren a5 budget planner’s special features include:
- Financial goal tracker
- Savings trackers
- Debt trackers
- Weekly spending log
- Budget trackers
- Monthly budget overview
- 12-month budget check-in pages & more
How do Budget Planners Help Save You Money?
Having a good budget planner is essential if you want to save money. If you haven’t budgeted before, you probably haven’t seen first-hand how helpful having a budget planner is.
Using a budget planner lets you visually see where every cent of your money is going. It allows you to track every expense and then eliminate where it is needed. It also helps you plan for the future, as you will be budgeting your money before it even lands in your bank account.
Most importantly, using a budget planner lets you see where changes need to be made in your spending and savings.
What Makes a Budget Planner the Best?
So, what makes a budget planner the best budget planner? A good budget planner needs a few essentials, such as a spot to keep track of your income and expenses.
If you don’t know how much money is coming in and going out, your budget will not work. Make sure your budget book of choice has a spot for both.
A good budget planner will also have a spot for you to record your savings and debt. A good budget planner’s features include a monthly calendar to mark bills’ due dates and upcoming events.
Other things to look for in a budget planner notebook:
- Good looking budget planner – if it looks pretty, you’ll use it more
- Easy to use – everything flows together
- 4-5 star rating
- Un-dated – you can start at any time
- Fun to use (includes engaging stickers, colored pens, and beautiful pages)
I’ve found that owning a finance notebook that looks appealing makes it all the more fun to carry around and use. Also, if a budget planner has good reviews, it means it’s already helped many people and will probably help you, too.
What to Consider When Picking Out the Right Monthly Budget Planner
When it comes to choosing the right budget planner, it’s important to consider a few key factors.
Characteristics of a great financial planner
Many planners offer basic budget tracking that can help track income and expenses, while others provide more advanced features, such as calculators for calculating net worth and tracking investments.
Great features to look for:
– Level of detail and complexity
– Ability to track income and expenses
– Calculator for calculating net worth
– Tracking investments
– Size of the financial planner (will it fit in your purse/does it matter)
Format of the budget planner
Planners come in many different formats. Some are available in digital formats, such as spreadsheets and apps, while others are more traditional paper planners. Some planners also offer multiple templates to help customize your budget to fit your needs.
Other tracking sheets you might need:
- bill tracker
- expense tracking
- monthly income tracker
- monthly bill organizer
- debt payment tracker
- monthly spending plan
- budget pages
- cash envelope system
- bill payments
- net worth tracker
- annual summary
- no spend challenge
- money goals
Cost of your financial planner
Finding a budget planner that fits your needs and is within your budget can be difficult. Many planners offer basic features, but you may need more advanced features to track your finances effectively.
Thankfully, there are many affordable budget planners out there. If you are starting out, skip on the accessories, keep things short and sweet, and opt for a simple budget planner. Once you are comfortable with the concept of budgeting, you can upgrade to more advanced features.
Best Financial Planner Accessories
I personally skip all budgeting accessories, but that’s just me – I’m frugal! That being said, if you are in a financial place where you can afford planner accessories, all the more power to you.
Budgeting planner accessories make budgeting more enjoyable and can help keep you organized.
Some popular planner accessories include:
- dividers
- stickers
- tabs
- covers
- colorful pens
- binder clips
These may sound like minor details, but they can really help you stay organized when tracking your budget.
Ultimately, picking the right budget planner is a matter of personal preference – it all comes down to what works best for you.
How to Make a Monthly Budget
Choosing a great budget planner is only the beginning. Once you have the right budget binder for you, you’ll need to learn how to make your budget!
That’s where the Debt-Free Wannabe Workbook will come in handy!
This 30+ page workbook contains step-by-step instructions to help you create a budget that works for your lifestyle, save more money, and develop a plan to pay off debt!
It comes with over a dozen printable worksheets that will help you organize your finances, build a budget, and pay off your debt quickly.
If you’re struggling to take control of your finances, you need to try this Debt-Free Wannabe Workbook. It will be your secret weapon for creating a budget with your new budget planner!
Best Budget Planner- Final Thoughts
There are a lot of great budget planners out there, and it can be tough to choose the right one for you. But we’ve gone ahead and done the hard work for you.
We hope our 14 best budget planners list will help you find the perfect planner for your needs! And if you’re still unsure which one is right for you, remember that you can always try a few different ones before settling on just one.
With so many great options, you’re sure to find one that fits your needs and helps you stay on track with your finances.
What budget planner book do you use? Let us know in the comments below!
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