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Budgeting

Budgeting Calculator

See where your money actually goes by adding your take-home pay and monthly expenses. The 50/30/20 rule is the starting point here, not a scorecard.

What lands in your account after tax, including any regular side income.

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Every expense is optional, so leave anything that does not apply at 0. Once a field has an amount, pick whether it counts as a need, a want or savings — we preset the usual answer, so change it only where yours differs.

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How you want your take-home pay divided up. The 50/30/20 rule is a common starting point, not a rule you have to follow — change any of the three to match your own plan.

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Required field
Monthly incomeiYour take-home pay, exactly as you entered it above. Every percentage on this page is worked out against this figure.
$0
Monthly expensesiEverything you entered across the seven categories, added up. Categories you left at 0 are simply not counted.
$0
Left overiIncome minus expenses. A positive number is money not yet assigned to anything; a negative one means the categories add up to more than you bring in.
$0

Based only on the figures you entered above, so a missed category will shift the split.

Your split vs your target

Bars show each share of your take-home income. The vertical line marks your target. Needs covers housing, utilities, groceries, transportation, insurance, healthcare, education, childcare and required debt payments. Wants covers eating out, entertainment, clothing, personal care, pet care and vacations. Savings is everything in the Savings & Investments category.

Where your money goes

📊 Let an app do the tracking. A budgeting app can categorize your spending automatically, so the numbers above stay current without a monthly rebuild. Our affiliate partner Money.com keeps a roundup of the top-rated options, including free ones if you would rather not pay.
See the best budgeting apps of 2026 →
This calculator is for education only and is not financial advice. Some links on this page may be affiliate links. Our recommendations are always based on our editorial judgment, not compensation.

EXPLORE

Budgeting Calculator FAQ

It is a simple way to divide your take-home pay. Take-home pay is the money that lands in your account after taxes and payroll deductions.

  • 50% needs. Rent or mortgage, utilities, groceries, insurance, and getting to work.
  • 30% wants. Eating out, entertainment, clothing, hobbies, and travel.
  • 20% savings. Your emergency fund, retirement, and extra debt payments.

The idea comes from a 2005 book by Elizabeth Warren and Amelia Warren Tyagi. It caught on because the numbers are easy to remember.

  • Monthly take-home income. What actually lands in your account each month, after taxes and payroll deductions. Not your salary before deductions.
  • The seven expense categories. Housing, food, transportation, education, personal and family, medical, and savings and investments. Open each one and enter what you spend in a typical month. Leave anything that does not apply at 0.
  • Needs, wants and savings. The calculator sorts your categories into three groups. Needs covers housing, utilities, groceries, transport, insurance, healthcare, education, childcare and required debt payments. Wants covers eating out, entertainment, clothing, personal care, pet care and vacations. Savings is everything in the Savings and Investments category.
  • Your target split. How you want take-home pay divided between those three groups. The 50/30/20 rule is the starting point, and all three fields are yours to change.

Each share is one slice of your spending divided by your take-home pay:

Share = (Category spending ÷ Take-home pay) × 100
  • Needs housing, food, transport, medical, education, and required debt payments
  • Wants eating out, entertainment, clothing, personal care, pets, and vacations
  • Savings everything in the Savings and Investments category
  • Left over take-home pay minus every expense you entered

Money left over is not counted as savings until you move it somewhere. That is why the summary shows what your savings share could look like if you did.

When I ran the numbers on typical rents in high-cost cities, needs alone often passed 60% of take-home pay. That does not mean the budget is broken. It means the target was built around an average that few people actually live in.

Your own split may look different depending on your rent, your city, your family, and your stage of life. A target you can hit is more useful than a tidy one. Many people nudge a single share by a few points at a time.

That is why the three target fields above are yours to edit. Set them to a plan that fits your life, then measure against that.

A negative “left over” figure means your expenses add up to more than your income. It is common, and it does not have to stay that way. Here are steps many people work through:

  • Start with the biggest category. A small trim there often moves more than several tiny ones.
  • Separate fixed bills from flexible ones, since flexible spending usually adjusts faster.
  • Review subscriptions and fees you no longer use.
  • Ask whether any need is really a want, and whether any want is closer to a need.
  • Consider whether extra income, even a modest amount, could cover the rest.

Change one number, then run the calculator again. Watching a bar move is often what makes the next change easier.