Budget Calculator
Add your income and spending, and see the breakdown by category — checked against the 50/30/20 rule.
Monthly income
Expenses
Spending by category
Your split vs. the 50/30/20 rule ?
What is the 50/30/20 rule?
The 50/30/20 rule is a simple starting point for budgeting your take-home pay: 50% toward needs, 30% toward wants, and 20% toward savings or paying down debt. It isn't a hard requirement — it's a benchmark to compare your actual spending against, so you can see at a glance whether your budget leans too heavily on discretionary spending or isn't setting aside enough for the future.
Needs vs. wants
Needs are costs you can't skip without real hardship: housing, groceries, utilities, insurance, minimum debt payments, transportation to work. Wants are everything discretionary — dining out, entertainment, subscriptions, shopping, hobbies. The categories below are pre-classified, and any custom category you add lets you choose which bucket it belongs in.
How to use this calculator
Enter your monthly take-home pay, then fill in what you actually spend in each category. The chart on the right updates live, comparing your real needs/wants/savings split against the 50/30/20 targets — so you can see exactly where to trim if your wants are crowding out savings.
Also useful: Paycheck Allocator and Income Allocator.
Frequently asked questions
It's a general guideline, not a rule that fits every income or city. In a high cost-of-living area, needs can easily exceed 50%; if you're aggressively paying off debt or saving for a near-term goal, you might intentionally push savings well past 20%. Use it as a benchmark, not a mandate.
Minimum required payments are usually counted as a need — you have to make them. Anything extra you pay toward debt beyond the minimum is often grouped with savings, since it's building your future financial position the same way saving would.
The "left over" figure will show as negative, which is a clear signal to cut spending — usually in the wants category first, since it's the most flexible. The category breakdown chart makes it easy to spot which categories are the biggest opportunities.