Budget with the 50/30/20 rule
Enter take-home pay, list what you spend, and see each group against its target.
- Runs on your device
- No sign-up
- Works offline after a visit
Needs
—Wants
—Savings and debt
—How to make a monthly budget
- Enter your take-home pay for one month.
- Pick a rule, or set your own split with the sliders.
- Enter what you spend in each group, and read what is left or over.
Questions
Where does the 50/30/20 rule come from?
Elizabeth Warren and Amelia Warren Tyagi popularised it in their 2005 book All Your Worth: The Ultimate Lifetime Money Plan. It suggests half of take-home pay for needs, 30% for wants and 20% for savings and debt repayment. It is a starting point, not a fixed law.
What counts as a need?
Things you cannot easily skip: rent or mortgage, utilities, groceries, basic transport, insurance, minimum debt payments and childcare. Wants are things you could cut without hardship, such as eating out, subscriptions and travel. Savings and debt covers emergency savings, retirement and extra payments on debt.
Should I use take-home pay or gross pay?
Take-home pay, the amount that reaches your account after tax and deductions. The rule is built on after-tax income, so starting from gross pay makes every target too high.
What if my needs are more than half?
Many people cannot fit their needs into 50%, especially where rent is high. Try 60/20/20 or 70/20/10 to see the gap, then look at the largest needs first. The sliders let you set any split that adds up to 100.
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