By The Income Tracker ยท Updated 16 September 2026
In short
One row per payment, with the balance after it and the rate on that debt. Sort by APR for the avalanche order or by balance for the snowball, and the sheet shows which debt to overpay next. Download the CSV, list what you owe today, and update it every payday.
Opens in Excel, Google Sheets, Numbers and LibreOffice. It is a plain CSV, so nothing is locked, tracked or macro-enabled.
What is in the template
Date
Description
Category
Money out
Balance after
APR
2026-09-01
Credit card A, opening balance
Debt
0.00
2400.00
24.9
2026-09-01
Credit card B (0% until 2027-06), opening balance
Debt
0.00
1800.00
0
2026-09-01
Car loan, opening balance
Debt
0.00
5200.00
8.9
2026-09-05
Credit card A payment
Debt
250.00
2199.80
24.9
2026-09-10
Credit card B payment
Debt
100.00
1700.00
0
2026-09-15
Car loan repayment
Debt
180.00
5058.55
8.9
Columns explained:
Date: Payment date. Start with an opening balance row for each debt dated today.
Description: Which debt. Note any 0% end date in the name so it is impossible to forget.
Category: Debt. One category keeps the sheet simple; the description does the rest.
Money out: The payment made.
Balance after: What is left on that debt after the payment, from the statement. Interest is already in this number.
APR: The rate on that debt. Sort by it to see the most expensive one.
How to use it
Download the CSV and replace the example rows with an opening balance for every debt you have, including overdrafts and buy-now-pay-later.
Decide the order: highest APR first (avalanche) saves the most money; smallest balance first (snowball) gives the quickest wins. The calculator on this site compares them for your numbers.
Pay minimums on everything and put every spare pound on the first debt in the order.
Each payday, add a row per payment with the new balance. When one hits zero, its payment rolls onto the next.
The one rule for 0% cards
A 0% balance is free only until the promotional period ends. Put the end date in the description and work out the monthly payment that clears it in time. Below the minimum for that, the 0% card should still get its share, whatever the payoff order says.
When the numbers do not work
If minimum payments alone are more than you can afford, the tracker has done its job by showing you that early. StepChange, Citizens Advice and National Debtline give free, confidential advice and can set up a plan with creditors. The income and expenditure form guide on this site explains what they will ask for.
The Income TrackerSkip the spreadsheet. Import your bank CSV and the totals do themselves.
Avalanche (highest rate first) costs less in interest. Snowball (smallest balance first) clears an account sooner, which many people find easier to stick to. The difference in pounds is often small; pick the one you will keep doing.
Does the template calculate interest?
No. Take the balance after each payment from your statement, which already includes interest. The debt snowball vs avalanche calculator does the projections.
Is it free?
Yes. A plain CSV file with no sign-up, no macros and no locked cells.