Budget Calculator
Turn your paycheck into a monthly plan, see where each dollar goes, and check it against the 50/30/20 split.
Bills you would still pay if your income stopped, including minimum debt payments.
$620 has no job yet. Moving $295 of it to savings would reach the 20% guide. Needs take 56% of pay, above the 50% guide; rent or mortgage is the largest bill.
Where it goes each month
Bills you would still pay if your income stopped, including minimum debt payments.
Your plan against 50/30/20
Of $4,225 a month, the 50/30/20 guide puts $2,113 on needs, $1,268 on wants and $845 into savings. You plan $2,380, $675 and $550. Tap a part of your bar or a group below to see its lines.
Needs are $268 over the 50% guide.
The 50/30/20 split comes from Elizabeth Warren and Amelia Warren Tyagi, All Your Worth (2005). It is a guide for after-tax pay, not a test.
Every line, largest first
| Rent or mortgageNeeds | $1,250 | 29.6% | $15,000 |
|---|---|---|---|
| GroceriesNeeds | $420 | 9.9% | $5,040 |
| TransportationNeeds | $280 | 6.6% | $3,360 |
| Dining outWants | $260 | 6.2% | $3,120 |
| Retirement contributionsSavings | $250 | 5.9% | $3,000 |
| Emergency savingsSavings | $200 | 4.7% | $2,400 |
Rent or mortgage is your largest line, $1,250 a month or $15,000 a year.
- Needs a month
- $2,380
- Months it would cover
- 1.3
- Savings rate with the rest saved
- 27.7%
Before you rely on this result. This is an estimate for planning. Banks, lenders and other providers apply their own rules, fees and rounding, so confirm figures with them before you commit to a financial decision. Sources used on this page.
How it's worked out
The tool starts from take-home pay: the amount that lands in your bank account after tax, insurance and any retirement deduction. You enter one paycheck and how often it comes, and the tool turns that into an average month.
Weekly pay means 52 paychecks a year, every two weeks means 26, twice a month means 24. Then every line you enter goes into one of three groups, and each group is compared with its share of the 50/30/20 split:
- Needs, 50%: bills you would still owe if your income stopped, such as rent, utilities, groceries, getting to work, insurance, childcare and minimum debt payments.
- Wants, 30%: spending you could cut in a lean month, such as dining out, streaming, shopping and trips.
- Savings, 20%: emergency savings, retirement, investing, and any debt payment above the minimum.
The split was set out by Elizabeth Warren and Amelia Warren Tyagi in All Your Worth (2005). Whatever is left after all three is money to assign. Your savings rate is savings divided by take-home pay.
Worked examples
Jordan, paid every two weeks
Jordan takes home $1,950 every two weeks. That is $4,225 in an average month, not the $3,900 that two paychecks a month would give, because two months a year bring a third paycheck.
Jordan plans $3,605, so $620 a month has no job. Needs take 56%, wants 16% and savings 13%. Moving $295 of the spare money to savings would reach 20%, and the rest can stay as a buffer. Open this example in the tool
A family with a 401(k) deduction
Sam and Lee take home $7,400 a month, and childcare pushes needs to 71% of pay. On paper they save only 5.4%.
But $650 a month already goes to a 401(k) before the pay arrives. Adding it back to both pay and savings gives $8,050 of pay and a savings rate of 13%. Needs fall to 65% of the larger figure. Open this example in the tool
A month that runs over
Alex takes home $3,400 and plans $3,560, so $160 a month ends up on a credit card. Wants come to $1,100, about 32% of pay, with dining out the largest at $420. Cutting that line by half would close the gap and leave a little to save. Open this example in the tool
Reading your result
Money left to assign is not the same as money saved. Spare cash in a checking account tends to get spent. Give it a line, even if that line is a buffer for next month.
An overspent plan means the difference comes from savings or a card each month. Alex's $160 a month is borrowed money, and card interest makes each month's gap cost more than it looks.
The 50/30/20 shares are a guide, not a grade. Where rent is high, needs often pass 50%. What matters is that savings do not stop. The compare card shows the dollar gap for each group, so you can see whether the extra need is coming out of wants or out of savings.
Emergency months divide what you have saved by your monthly needs, since wants can stop if income does. Jordan's $3,000 would cover about 1.3 months of needs.
Common mistakes
- Budgeting from your salary. Tax, health insurance and retirement deductions can take a quarter or more of gross pay. Use the deposit you actually receive.
- Doubling a biweekly paycheck. 26 paychecks a year average 2.17 a month. Doubling one undercounts a year by two full paychecks.
- Forgetting costs that are not monthly. Car registration, gifts, annual subscriptions and repairs belong in the plan. Add up a year of them and divide by 12.
- Counting a minimum payment as savings. Minimum payments are needs. Only the amount above the minimum is savings.
- Planning on your best month. If your pay varies, as with tips, shifts or commission, enter a lean month's paycheck. Extra money in a good month then goes straight to savings instead of raising the plan.
- Leaving out paycheck deductions. If a 401(k) comes out before pay arrives, your real savings rate is higher than the budget shows. Add it with the switch under the inputs.
Questions people ask
Sources
- Warren, E. and Warren Tyagi, A., All Your Worth: The Ultimate Lifetime Money Plan, Free Press (2005)
- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Your Money, Your Goals toolkit: budgeting and spending tools
Maintained by Anil ShahUpdated October 28, 2026Checked against 12 reference values