A Budget Calculator
The 50/30/20 budget is the easiest framework for people who hate budgeting. Instead of tracking dozens of line items, it sorts every dollar of take-home pay into three buckets: needs, wants and savings.
Needs (50%)
$2,250.00
- Wants (30%)
- $1,350.00
- Savings (20%)
- $900.00
- Weekly needs
- $519.23
- Weekly wants
- $311.54
- Weekly savings
- $207.69
Values update as you type. This calculator covers the single scenario its formula assumes — see Common Mistakes for what it leaves out.
The formula this calculator uses
Needs = Income x 0.50; Wants = Income x 0.30; Savings = Income x 0.20
- Income
- After-tax monthly income
- Needs
- Half of take-home pay
- Wants
- Thirty percent of take-home pay
- Savings
- Twenty percent of take-home pay
How to check the result by hand
- 1
Start from take-home pay
Use the amount that reaches your account after tax and pre-tax deductions, not the gross salary.
- 2
Halve it for needs
Half of take-home pay is the ceiling for rent, utilities, food, insurance and transport.
- 3
Take thirty percent for wants
Discretionary spending gets its own bucket rather than whatever happens to be left.
- 4
Set twenty percent aside for savings
Savings is a fixed line, moved out on payday rather than saved as a residual.
- 5
Convert to weekly figures
Divide each monthly bucket by about 4.33 to get the weekly amount, which is easier to spend against.
For worked examples, common mistakes and the limits of this formula, read the full How To Calculate A Budget page.