Skip to content

Calculator

Budget Planner

Enter your take-home pay and monthly costs to see where the money goes, how your split compares with the 50/30/20 guideline, and what is left over.

after tax
$

Needs

$
$
$
$
$
$

Wants

$
$
$
$

Saving & debt payoff

$
$
$

Short by

$110

Spending exceeds take-home pay this month

Saving rate

15%

$650 to saving and extra debt payments

Needs share

73%

$3,050 of $4,200 take-home pay

Where your money goes

  • Needs$3,050 · 71%50/30/20 reference: $2,100
  • Wants$610 · 14%50/30/20 reference: $1,260
  • Saving & debt payoff$650 · 15%50/30/20 reference: $840
The 50/30/20 split is a reference point, not a rule. In expensive housing markets a higher needs share is normal — what matters is that the three numbers are deliberate.

Reading your split

Your budget currently runs 73% needs, 15% wants and 15% saving. If the saving share is smaller than you would like, the fastest lever is usually the largest line in needs — housing and transport — not the smallest line in wants.

Use take-home pay, not gross pay. Retirement contributions deducted from your paycheck are already saving, so count them in the saving bucket rather than twice.

FAQ

Questions about this calculator

More on this in the budgeting guides.

Budgeting guides