My Simple Budgeting System Designed in Notion

Most people struggle with managing their finances because they don't have a clear picture of their expenses. That's where tracking your expenses regularly and having a budget helps. You can always use a notebook and pen, but that has its limitations. If you search on the internet, you will come across a lot of budgeting apps and software tools, But most of them are too complicated to use, not customizable, and require some kind of payment. So, I decided to take things into my hand and designed a budgeting template for myself in Notion.

Notion is a free productivity tool, and the template is simple. It can be used by even total beginners who are new to budgeting. It focuses on the three pillars of good personal financial management, 1. Tracking expenses, 2. Setting a budget, and 3. Saving towards financial goals. In this blog, I will go into detail about the different features of this template and how you can use it to work towards a better financial future. So, let's get started.

The template has five main pages:

Dashboard page: 

Here, you can get a quick view of your finances for the current month and year. You can see your total income from different sources and your expenses sorted by categories. One of the most common problems, when people start tracking their expenses and budgeting is losing that initial motivation after a few days. So, I built in a section to keep count of how many days you updated your expenses this month. Also, there is an expense tracker to warn you if you exceed the budget limit in any categories. The Dashboard is a simple and convenient way to see where your money is coming from and where it's going.

Budget page: 

Now, we move to the budget page. Here, you can get a detailed overview of how you've used your money this month since personal budgets are typically done on a month-by-month basis. It shows your total budget limit, the sum of expenses, and the remaining balance for the current month. You can also find a breakdown of your expenses based on the 50-30-20 budget rule, which specifies that you allocate 50% of your expenses to wants, 30% to needs, and 20% to savings.

Needs are the must-haves, wants are the nice-to-haves, and savings are your savings and investments. This is a good place to start for those new to budgeting. If you want to go deeper and become the ultimate budgeting champion, you can set budget limits for each category and get a detailed breakdown here. You can see the monthly budget limit, the total sum of expenses, the remaining balance, and a percentage graph for each category.

So, keep track of your finances and stay on top of your spending.

Data page: 

Now, the data page is the one you will use regularly. Here you can enter your cash flow, means the money coming in, your income, and money going out, your expenses. Additionally, you can set budget limits for each expense category and add and track your personal money goals.

And if you want to customize the template to your needs, you can do that here in the configuration section by adding new expense and income categories based on your spending habits.

Report Page: 

The report page provides a really detailed overview of your finances, all your expenses, and income from the past weeks, months, and even years. The finances are displayed in categories for easy understanding, making it easy to understand where your money is going. One of my favorite features is the special percentage view for expenses. It's a great way to identify high-ticket items that you can cut down on. And if you're trying to save money or reach a certain financial goal, you can also do that here.

Help Page:

Finally, the help page. This is the place to be if you have any questions about the template. You can find detailed instructions on using the template, some FAQs, and links to contact me if you have any queries.

So those were the main parts of the template. Now let's talk about how to use it.

Step 1: Access the Notion Template.

To access the Notion template, you must create a Notion account. If you don't have one already, don't worry - it's quick and easy to set up and can be done totally free of cost. Once you're all signed up, go to my website. You can find the link given in the description box of my YouTube video (pinned at the last of the blog).

Enter your email and click on Get Budget Buddy. Now click on the three dots in the top right corner of this page, click "Duplicate," and select your notion workspace where you want this template to be duplicated.

Step 2: Once you have the template in your personal workspace, head to the data page. Now go to the budget section and set limits for each individual category. It could be that you are a business person, and your spending habits are different. In that case, you can also add new categories as you need. You have to set the budget limit only once and then adjust once in a few months accordingly.

But what you have to do daily or regularly is to add your income and expense data. To create a new income entry, click the "New" button in the top right corner of the income database and provide details such as the date, source, and amount.

Similarly, for expenses, enter the name, the type of expense, whether it's a need, want, or saving, the category where the expense belongs, and the final amount.

Some of you might be living with your partner or sharing your expenses with your roommate. You can share the template with others so multiple people can enter the data. Just update the person field accordingly. If you are working towards any money goals, such as a vacation or an emergency fund, you can create money buckets and then update them here when you move money to these buckets.

You can also find the navigation menu at the top to easily switch between different template pages.

It took me more than a month to create this template. I wanted to create a system that is easy to use and still provides every necessary tool to start budgeting. Initially, I considered selling it, but then I decided against it. I believe everyone should have access to basic financial tools at no cost. So use this and let me know your feedback. Thank you, until I see you with another blog.

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