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50/30/20 budget calculator
The 50/30/20 rule splits take-home pay into 50% needs, 30% wants and 20% savings and debt payoff. Enter your take-home pay and what you spend. See your 50/30/20 split, which categories run over typical guidelines, and how long your emergency fund will take, free.
What counts as a need, a want and savings
Needs are what you must pay to live and work: housing, utilities, groceries, transportation, insurance, childcare and minimum debt payments. Wants are everything optional: dining out, streaming, shopping, travel. Savings includes emergency fund, retirement and extra payments on debt.
If your needs are over 50%
That's very common where rent is high. The rule is a starting point, not a test. Many people run 60/20/20 for a while and work toward 50/30/20 as income grows or housing costs change.
Using your result
Look first at the categories over their typical share; the planner lists them in order of how far over they are. Moving even $50–100 a month from wants to savings adds up to $600–1,200 a year.
Questions
Is 50/30/20 based on gross or take-home pay?
Take-home pay: what lands in your account after taxes and payroll deductions.
Do retirement contributions from my paycheck count?
If they're taken out before your paycheck, they're already saved; you can add them to savings to see the full picture, and include them in take-home pay if you do.
Is this financial advice?
No. It's an educational calculator that does the arithmetic on your numbers and compares them with a common rule of thumb.
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