Monthly 50/30/20 Budget Calculator

The 50/30/20 rule is a popular budgeting method that splits your monthly income among three main categories: needs, wants and savings.

Before slicing up your income using this budgeting framework, it’s important to calculate your after-tax income. Then, you can divide your expenses into the three main categories.

Let’s get started.

How the 50/30/20 budget calculator works

Our 50/30/20 calculator divides your take-home income, or the money that goes into your account after taxes, into suggested spending in three categories: 50% of net pay for needs, 30% for wants and 20% for savings and debt repayment.

Here’s an example: If you make $3,000 each month after taxes, $1,500 should go toward necessities, $900 for wants and $600 for savings and debt paydown.

It's likely you'll have additional payroll deductions for things such as health insurance, 401(k) contributions or other automatic payments taken from your salary. Don't subtract those from your gross (before tax) income. If you've lumped them in with your taxes, you'll want to separate them out — subtract only taxes from your gross income.

The simplest way to calculate your net income is to check your pay stub, as it often includes both your gross and net pay.

What is the 50/30/20 rule?

Here’s a breakdown of each category and what kinds of expenses might fit into each group:

The percentages in the 50/30/20 rule can be changed to fit your financial circumstances. If saving or paying down debt is a priority, for example, it’s OK to shrink your wants bucket and increase the savings and debt bucket. If the 50/30/20 rule doesn’t work for you, there are other budgeting systems you can explore.

Dive deeper with your monthly budget

For more budgeting advice, including how to prioritize your savings and debt repayment, review our tips for how to build a budget and use our financial calculators. Once you have a solid budget in place, consult our personal finance guide to learn more about how to manage your money.