The Ninja Budget blog
I publish one article a week, built around five themes: the basics of budgeting, household spending, ways to save, management tools, and spending habits.
Everything you read here comes from my day-to-day work. So nothing I have not checked, tried or been through myself!
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Home Services Budget: Estimate, Categorize, and Track These Recurring Expenses
Take control of your home services budget: calculate the true cost, including expenses, categorize your spending, and track it month by month—no unpleasant surprises.
Budgeting for Single-Parent Families: Regaining Control Without Guilt
Build a solid budget for a single-parent household, use CAF and APL benefits as real tools to help you get by, and regain financial peace of mind when you’re managing everything on your own.
Single-Parent Budget: Taking Back Control Without the Guilt
Build a solid single-parent budget, treat benefits and support payments as real tools rather than afterthoughts, and find some financial calm when you’re managing everything alone.
Budget for Single-Parent Families: Take Back Control Without Guilt
Build a solid budget for single-parent families, use benefits like Universal Credit and Housing Benefit as real levers, and find financial peace of mind when you’re managing everything alone.
Single-parent family budget: take back control without the guilt
Build a solid single-parent family budget, treat benefits and housing support as real levers rather than handouts, and find some financial calm when you’re managing everything alone.
Single-parent family budget: taking back control without guilt
Build a solid single-parent family budget, treat available benefits as real levers rather than afterthoughts, and find financial peace of mind when you’re managing everything alone.
Browse our 5 main themes
Budget & Personal Finance
Building a budget that holds up, reading it, adapting it to situations that do not fit the usual pattern.
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Everyday Budget
Groceries, energy, subscriptions, transport, and managing money as a couple or as a family.
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Savings & Life Goals
Putting money aside for something specific, and knowing how much and for how long.
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Budgeting Tools & Methods
Apps, spreadsheets, methods. What works, for whom, and what does not.
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Psychology & Money Mindset
Why we overspend, why we put things off, and how to work on it.
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Frequently asked questions about budgeting
How do you make a budget if you have never tracked your spending?
Start by recording your actual spending over a full month, without trying to correct anything. It is the only way to get accurate figures rather than an estimate. You then build your budget for the months ahead on that basis.
Is a Google Sheets budget spreadsheet better than an app?
It depends on what you are looking for. An app categorises for you and asks for access to your bank accounts. A spreadsheet takes fifteen minutes a week, but your data stays with you and you remain in control. The detailed comparison is in the Budgeting Tools & Methods category.
Why choose a paid Google Sheets budget template?
A free template almost always starts from the same assumption: one salary, one account, a year beginning in January. A paid template earns its place when your situation does not fit that mould, with several accounts, irregular income or a period starting mid-year.
How do you budget as a freelancer with irregular income?
By working from a reference income rather than the current month. You set money aside for charges as soon as it comes in, you smooth out the rest, and you accept that some months fund the ones that follow. Several articles in the Savings & Life Goals category set out the method.
Is there a budgeting app without a subscription?
Few, and they are rarely fully featured. That is the main argument for the spreadsheet: you pay once, or not at all, and the tool does not change its price six months later. The Ninja Budget follows that model, a one-off purchase of €15.
Ready to take control of your budget?
See where you stand, plan ahead, reach your savings goals. A complete tool for only €15, delivered by email in 2 minutes. No subscription, no commitment, no risk.
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