50/30/20 budget calculator
Split income into needs, wants and savings.
Fill in the fields and the result will appear here automatically.
The 50/30/20 rule divides monthly after-tax income into 50% for needs, 30% for wants and 20% for savings. Thirty percent is exactly 0.30 of income, rather than one third. The three amounts are planning benchmarks: the income-only form cannot identify actual spending or an overspent category. Compare them with your budget separately; the split is not a mandatory standard.
How it works
Formula and logic
Needs = 0.50×I, wants = 0.30×I and savings = 0.20×I, for positive monthly after-tax income I. The unrounded shares sum to I. Money rows normally round to whole units, so displayed parts may not sum exactly to income; amounts below one unit retain fractions. The model does not collect spending, classify payments automatically or calculate tax from gross income.
Example
Income of 100,000 gives 50,000 for needs, 30,000 for wants and 20,000 for savings. Income of 1 gives 0.50, 0.30 and 0.20 monetary units, without rounding the first share up to 1.
Fields and units
- Monthly income after tax — $
How to use
- — Enter monthly income after tax.
- — Compare the three amounts with what you actually spend.
- — Adjust the categories that differ most.
Method and limitations
- Calculation method
- Formula and logic
- Data or methodology source
- CFPB, United States: after-tax 50/30/20 as an adjustable planning guideline
- Limitation
- A teaching allocation of one income using fixed shares. It is not an actual budget check, savings-adequacy standard, tax calculation or debt-repayment plan. Classifying needs, wants and savings depends on the situation.
FAQ
What counts as a need?
Housing, food, transport, utilities, medicine and minimum debt payments — anything you cannot skip next month.
Is the split strict?
No. It is a reference point. In expensive cities needs often exceed half, and the useful step is to see by how much.
Before or after tax?
After tax, and after mandatory deductions — otherwise every share is overstated.
What if savings do not fit?
Start from what is left and raise it gradually. A small regular share beats an ambitious one you abandon.
Why might displayed budget parts not add up exactly?
Each part is rounded separately for display. Income of 103 gives unrounded 51.5, 30.9 and 20.6, with whole-unit rows showing 52, 31 and 21. Income of 1 gives 0.50, 0.30 and 0.20. For cent-exact allocation use the unrounded amounts.