Calculator
50/30/20 budget calculator
What the split looks like on your income, and how far your actual spending sits from it.
After tax, and after anything deducted from your pay.
Rent, groceries, utilities, transport, insurance. Optional.
Eating out, subscriptions, shopping, travel. Optional.
Money you put away, plus anything you pay above a minimum debt payment. Optional.
On $5,000 a month, the split is $2,500 for needs, $1,500 for wants and $1,000 to save.
Free, no sign-up, and nothing you type here leaves your browser. This site runs no analytics.
Common questions
What is the 50/30/20 rule?
It splits your take-home pay three ways: half to needs, 30% to wants, and 20% to saving and paying down debt. It is a starting shape rather than a law, and the useful part is usually the comparison with what you actually do, not the target itself.
What counts as a need rather than a want?
A need is something you would still be paying for if your income halved: rent or mortgage, groceries, utilities, transport to work, insurance, minimum debt payments. Everything else is a want, including the parts of a need that go beyond the minimum — a phone plan is a need, the most expensive phone plan is not.
My needs are well over 50%. What does that mean?
Usually that housing is expensive where you live, which is true for most people in most cities. The split does not adjust for that. It tells you what is left after the fixed parts, and the figure is worth knowing even when it is uncomfortable.
Do the numbers I type get sent anywhere?
No. This calculator runs entirely in your browser. Nothing is transmitted, nothing is stored, and this site runs no analytics at all.
Why does changing the currency not change the numbers?
The selector changes the symbol, not the amounts. The arithmetic here is currency-agnostic — a split is a split — and converting would mean shipping an exchange rate that goes stale.