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Apply the 50/30/20 rule (or any budget framework) to your take-home pay and see monthly allocations.
Budget Calculator (50/30/20 Rule) applies the 50/30/20, 70/20/10, or 60/20/20 budget framework to divide after-tax monthly income into needs, wants, and savings — with sub-category spending suggestions for the needs bucket.
Apply the 50/30/20 rule or any budgeting framework to your monthly take-home pay. See exactly how much to allocate to needs, wants, and savings — with sub-category suggestions.
Enter your monthly take-home (after-tax) income
Select a budget rule: 50/30/20, 70/20/10, 60/20/20, or custom
Review the monthly allocation for needs, wants, and savings
Use the needs sub-category breakdown as a spending guide
Allocations are computed as (income × percentage / 100) for each budget category. Sub-category needs breakdowns apply suggested proportions: housing 50%, food 20%, transportation 15%, utilities 10%, insurance 5% of the total needs bucket. These are starting guidelines, not prescriptions.
The 50/30/20 rule allocates 50% of after-tax income to needs (rent, food, utilities), 30% to wants (dining, entertainment, subscriptions), and 20% to savings and debt repayment. It's a popular starting framework.
Needs are expenses required for basic living: rent/mortgage, groceries, utilities, transportation to work, health insurance. Wants are non-essential: restaurants, Netflix, gym memberships, vacations.
In expensive cities (NYC, SF), housing alone can exceed 30–40% of income, making the 50% needs target hard. The 70/20/10 rule may be more realistic, or use the custom option to match your actual situation.
Priority order: (1) employer 401(k) match — free money, (2) high-interest debt payoff, (3) emergency fund (3–6 months expenses), (4) retirement accounts (IRA, 401k), (5) investment accounts.
Calculate the right emergency fund size for your expenses and risk tolerance, and see how long it takes to build it.
Find out exactly how much to save each month to reach any financial goal by a target date.
Estimate your take-home pay after federal, FICA, state taxes, 401(k), and health premiums.