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Budget vs Actual: How to Track What You Spend

A budget tells you what you meant to do. Budget vs actual shows what really happened. Here is how to compare the two each pay, read the differences and fix the right thing.

Written by Alex BPublished 13 November 2026
Money Detective is built around practical household money tools for Australians.

Writing a budget is the easy part. The part most of us skip is checking it. You plan $380 for groceries, the fortnight ends, and you have a feeling it went over but no idea by how much or why. Budget vs actual is simply the habit of putting your plan next to what really happened, so you can see the gap and do something about it.

This guide shows the method on paper or in Excel, with invented figures. If you would rather start with a spreadsheet that does the sums, there is a section near the end on the Money Detective options.

What does budget vs actual mean?

For each spending category you look at three numbers:

Budget: what you planned to spend in this pay.
Actual: what you really spent in the same pay.
Difference: how far apart they are.

It helps to use one sign convention and stick to it. Here, difference is budget minus actual, so a positive number means you came in under budget and a negative number means you went over.

Difference = Budget − Actual

You can also work out the percentage of the budget you used, which makes categories of different sizes easier to compare:

% used = Actual ÷ Budget

Step 1: Set the budget for one pay at a time

Compare like with like. If you are paid fortnightly, build your budget for one fortnight, and check it against the spending in the same fortnight. Comparing a fortnightly plan with a calendar month of spending will always look wrong, because a month is not two fortnights.

Bills that do not arrive every pay need a share of their cost in each pay, or the comparison will swing between good pays and bad pays. The guide on budgeting fortnightly when your bills are monthly shows how to convert them, and how to budget fortnightly covers the whole method.

Step 2: Record what you actually spent

There are two ways to get the actual column filled in:

Type it in. Add up your receipts, or go through your bank app at the end of the pay and total each category. It takes longer, but you see every transaction.
Use your statement. Copy the transaction rows from your online banking, or turn a PDF statement into rows with the free Bank Statement Converter, then sort them into categories. Always check the rows against your statement, because automatic reading can miss or misread a line.

Either way, nothing here needs a bank connection. You are working from your own records.

Step 3: Work out the difference and the percentage used

An example fortnight (invented figures)

Four categories, one fortnight:

Category	Budget	Actual	Difference	% used
Groceries	$380	$412	−$32	108%
Eating out	$100	$74	+$26	74%
Fuel	$140	$150	−$10	107%
Kids' activities	$60	$60	$0	100%
Total	$680	$696	−$16	102%

Overall this household was $16 over. The total hides the story: groceries and fuel went over, eating out came in well under, and the kids' activities landed exactly on plan.

In Excel, with the budget in column B and the actual in column C, the difference in D2 is =B2-C2 and the percentage in E2 is =IF(B2=0,"",C2/B2). The IF stops an error appearing when a category has no budget yet.

Some people also mark a category as "in line" when it is within a small margin of the plan. Fortnightly Budget Plus uses 5% either side. Pick a margin you are comfortable with and keep it the same each pay.

Step 4: Decide what the difference is telling you

A gap is not automatically a failure. Before you change anything, ask which of these it is:

Timing. A bill landed in a different pay from the one you planned for. Nothing is wrong, but the plan needs a share of that bill in every pay.
An unrealistic plan. You budgeted $300 for groceries for a family that has spent about $400 every fortnight. Change the plan, not the family.
A one-off. A birthday, a car repair, a school excursion. Note it and move on, unless it keeps coming back, in which case it belongs in a sinking fund.
Real overspending. This is the one to work on. Start with the biggest dollar gap, not the biggest percentage, because a $10 gap on a $20 category is a smaller problem than a $60 gap on a $400 one.

Coming in under budget is worth a look too. If the money is still in your account, give it a job such as savings or a bill coming up, so it does not disappear into the next pay.

Weekly, fortnightly or monthly?

Use the period that matches how you are paid. The same spending can be shown per week, per fortnight or per month, and it is the same money each time, so choose the view that helps you make decisions. If you are paid fortnightly, the fortnightly view tells you whether this pay was enough. A weekly figure can help when you want to know how much groceries cost per week.

Common budget vs actual mistakes

Counting the same money twice. If you pay with a credit card and then repay the card, counting both the purchases and the repayment as spending doubles the amount. Count the purchases, and treat the repayment as paying off what you owe.
Counting transfers between your own accounts as spending. Moving $200 to savings is not an expense.
Too many categories. Fifty categories means you will stop updating it. Start with the handful that matter.
Checking only once a month. A pay is short enough to fix. A month is not.
Never changing the plan. If you are over on groceries every single pay, the budget is the thing to adjust.

Where a spreadsheet helps

The Free Fortnightly Budget is an Excel spreadsheet where you enter a plan for each category, type in what you actually spent, and see each one marked under, on track or over. You type your own amounts, so there is no import.

A done-for-you shortcut: Fortnightly Budget Plus has a BUDGET vs ACTUAL tab that shows your plan next to your real spending, with the difference, the percentage used and a status for each category. You can type your spending in, or paste in transactions from your bank statement and let the spreadsheet sort them into your categories. It also has a savings goals tab. Everything stays in your own Excel file.

Questions about budget vs actual

What is a good percentage used?

There is no single right answer. Around 100% means you spent what you planned. Under 100% means you spent less. Above 100% means you went over. What matters is whether the pattern, over several pays, is telling you the plan needs to change.

How often should I do it?

Once each pay is a good rhythm for most households. A quick look partway through the pay can also stop a category running away from you.

Do I need to record every transaction?

Not necessarily. You can track a few key categories by hand. If you want every transaction sorted for you, you will need to work from your statement rows.

Official sources and further reading

This article provides general information only. It does not take into account your personal objectives, financial situation or needs, and it is not financial advice. Examples use invented figures. Money Detective's tools provide estimates and planning information. Consider your own circumstances, and seek independent advice if you need it, before making financial decisions.