// free tools · monthly budget calculator
Monthly budget calculator
Check your month in two minutes: take-home pay against bills, spending and savings, what’s left over, and how it compares with the 50/30/20 guide.
Results appear here as you type. If nothing shows, JavaScript may be switched off.
How to use it
- Enter your monthly take-home pay.
- Fill in your needs, wants and savings. Leave anything that doesn't apply at 0.
- Add the costs that only come once or twice a year as a yearly total. The calculator spreads them over 12 months.
- Read what's left over, and each group's share of your pay next to the 50/30/20 guide.
Everything runs in your browser. Nothing you type into the calculator is sent or saved anywhere.
How the monthly budget check works, with an example
A quick budget check answers two questions: does more come in each month than goes out, and where does it go? Bank apps show what you spent, but not whether it adds up to a plan. This calculator puts your take-home pay next to your needs, wants and savings, spreads the costs that only come once a year across every month, and shows what’s left.
- Needs: housing, utilities, groceries, transport, insurance and minimum debt payments, plus your yearly costs ÷ 12.
- Wants: eating out, subscriptions, shopping and other spending you could cut back in a tight month.
- Savings + extra debt payments: money going into savings and anything you pay above the minimums.
- Left over = take-home pay − all of the above. A negative number is a shortfall.
Worked example
A household brings home $4,200 a month. Rent is $1,400, utilities $220, groceries $520, transport $300, insurance $180 and minimum debt payments $205. Yearly costs such as gifts and a car service come to $1,200, or $100 a month. They spend $515 a month on wants, put $300 into savings and pay $200 extra on debt.
| Take-home pay | $4,200.00 |
| Needs, incl. $100.00 of yearly costs (69.6%) | $2,925.00 |
| Wants (12.3%) | $515.00 |
| Savings + extra debt payments (11.9%) | $500.00 |
| Total going out | $3,940.00 |
| Left over (6.2%) | $260.00 |
There’s $260 left over each month. Needs take 69.6% of take-home pay, well above the $2,100 that the 50/30/20 guide would put there, which is common where housing costs are high. Wants, at 12.3%, are far below the guide’s $1,260. Subscriptions at $65 a month add up to $780 a year, a figure worth seeing once. Money that’s left over without a plan tends to get spent, so it helps to decide where the $260 goes.
About the 50/30/20 guide
50/30/20 splits take-home pay into 50% needs, 30% wants and 20% savings and debt repayment. It’s a common rule of thumb, not a target that fits everyone: in some cities rent alone is half of pay, and that’s a fact about the city, not a failing. Use it as a comparison, and watch how your own numbers change from month to month rather than judging one month.
If you’re paying off several debts, the debt payoff calculator shows what an extra payment does under the snowball and avalanche methods. Self-employed with uneven income? The tax set-aside calculator helps you keep tax money out of the monthly budget. And to compare what you planned with what you actually spent, month after month, a budget spreadsheet with budget vs actual columns is the next step.
// want this in a spreadsheet?
Plan every month, then compare with what you spent.
The Personal Budget Planner ($17) has budget vs actual for every month, a bill calendar, savings goals and a snowball vs avalanche debt plan for up to 6 debts. Google Sheets and Excel. See what’s inside.
Not financial or tax advice. Check with a professional. The calculator gives arithmetic on the numbers you enter, and 50/30/20 is shown as a rule of thumb, not a recommendation.
Questions
How does the budget check work?
It adds up your needs (including yearly costs ÷ 12), your wants and your savings plus extra debt payments, and takes the total away from your take-home pay. What's left is your monthly surplus, or a shortfall if it's negative. Each group is also shown as a share of your take-home pay.
What counts as a need and what's a want?
Needs are the costs you'd still have in a tight month: housing, utilities, groceries, transport, insurance and minimum debt payments. Wants are the ones you could cut back: eating out, subscriptions, shopping and fun. Some costs sit in between, so put them where they fit your life.
What is the 50/30/20 rule?
A common rule of thumb that splits take-home pay into 50% needs, 30% wants and 20% savings and debt repayment. It isn't a target that fits everyone: where housing is expensive, needs alone can be well over half of pay. The calculator shows it as a comparison only.
Why include yearly costs?
Bills that come once or twice a year, like gifts, car servicing and annual renewals, are easy to forget and then land all at once. Spreading them over 12 months shows what they really cost each month.
Should I use take-home pay or my salary?
Take-home pay: what actually arrives in your account after tax and deductions. That's the money the budget has to cover.
What if the result is negative?
More is going out than coming in at these numbers. The breakdown shows which group is largest, which is usually the place to look first. If money is tight, a qualified, non-profit adviser can help you look at options.
Is anything I type saved?
No. The calculator runs in your browser and nothing you type into it is sent or stored.
// new free tools
Get new free tools by email
We'll tell you when a new free calculator or template is out.