50/30/20 Budget Calculator
Plan how much of your monthly income goes to needs, wants, and saving or paying down debt. Adjust the percentages to fit your circumstances.
Target vs. current allocation
| Category | Target (%) | Target ($) | Current ($) | Current (% of income) | Difference ($) | Difference (points) |
|---|
Positive differences mean above the selected target; negative differences mean below. Current percentages may total more than 100% when allocations exceed income. With zero income, current percentage comparisons are N/A.
How the 50/30/20 budget works
The default plan assigns 50% of monthly take-home income to needs, 30% to wants, and 20% to savings and extra debt payments. You can change all three percentages, including setting a category to zero, as long as they sum to 100%.
Choose consistent categories
Needs: essential housing, food, utilities, transport, insurance, childcare, healthcare and minimum debt payments. Wants: nonessential shopping, entertainment, holidays and optional upgrades. Savings and extra debt: emergency savings, investments and repayments above required minimums. A purchase can contain both needs and wants; split it if that makes your plan clearer.
Use the same income basis for every category. If retirement contributions or insurance premiums are already deducted from the take-home income you enter, do not count them again as allocations from that cash. To include them in this plan, add the relevant deductions back to your income and include them once in the appropriate category. Do not count credit-card purchases and the payment of those same purchases twice.
Formulas and rounding
Target amount = monthly income × target percentage / 100. Calculations use cents and percentages to two decimal places. Targets first round down to whole cents; leftover cents go to categories with the largest fractional remainders. Ties are resolved in needs, wants, savings order. This makes the three targets add up exactly to your income.
Dollar difference = current allocation − rounded target. Current percentage = current allocation / income × 100. The percentage-point difference uses your selected percentage, so a tiny dollar-rounding difference can remain when displayed percentages appear equal. Percentages are undefined when income is zero.
Unallocated income = income − total current allocations. A negative result means your current plan allocates more than the income entered. This is a cash-planning comparison, not a forecast of interest, debt payoff time or account balances.
What if my needs exceed 50%?
Adjust the targets to reflect your actual circumstances. Costs and priorities differ, and this calculator does not decide which essential expenses you can reduce. The default percentages are a starting point, not a requirement.
Why can current allocations exceed 100%?
The calculator allows you to enter your actual totals even when they exceed current income. It shows the amount overallocated instead of forcing those values to fit. Check whether the gap reflects borrowing, savings withdrawals, missing income or double-counted expenses.
Source: CFPB: My spending rule to live by presents a take-home-pay spending guideline and encourages a personal rule that works for your circumstances.