50/30/20 Budget Calculator
Free 50/30/20 rule calculator: see how much of your take-home pay goes to needs (50%), wants (30%) and savings (20%) each month and year, and how you compare.
What it does
The 50/30/20 rule is a simple way to plan a budget, made popular by Elizabeth Warren and Amelia Warren Tyagi in the book All Your Worth (2005). Take your income after taxes and split it into three groups: about 50% for needs you cannot avoid, 30% for wants, and 20% for savings and paying off debt. This calculator shows the amounts per month and per year, lets you switch to other common splits or your own, and compares the targets with what you spend today.
How to use it
- Type your take-home pay, the money that reaches your account after taxes, per month or per year.
- Keep the 50/30/20 rule or choose another split, or type your own percentages.
- Optionally, type what you spend now in each group to see where you are above or below the target.
The arithmetic runs in your browser. Nothing you type is sent anywhere and nothing is stored, so you can use these with real numbers.
Frequently asked questions
What counts as a need and what is a want?
A need is something you would still have to pay if you lost your job: housing, utilities, basic groceries, getting to work, insurance and the minimum payment on your debts. A want is everything you could cut: restaurants, entertainment, travel, subscriptions and upgrades such as a bigger car.
Should I use my gross or my net income?
The net income: what you actually receive after income tax and social contributions. If retirement contributions come out of your paycheck before you receive it, you can add them back to the income and count them as savings.
What if my needs are more than 50%?
It is common in expensive cities or on low incomes. Then a 60/20/20 or 70/20/10 split is more realistic: keep the savings part as high as you can and take the difference from wants, while you look for ways to lower fixed costs such as rent.
Where do debt payments go?
The minimum payments are needs, because you must pay them. Anything you pay above the minimum to clear a debt faster counts in the 20% for savings, since it improves your finances just like saving does.
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CFPB — Budgeting
Wikipedia — Elizabeth Warren, All Your Worth (2005)