{
  "id": "budget",
  "version": "350831b7be8b",
  "status": "published",
  "name": "Budget Calculator",
  "question": "Where does my budget go?",
  "summary": "Computes what is left of monthly take-home pay after spending and saving, and compares needs, wants and savings with the 50/30/20 rule.",
  "category": "finance",
  "subcategory": "tax-and-pay",
  "url": "https://www.acalculator.org/finance/budget-calculator",
  "markdown": "https://www.acalculator.org/finance/budget-calculator.md",
  "kind": "function",
  "method": "left over = take-home pay − (needs + wants + savings); each group’s share = group ÷ take-home pay × 100, compared with 50% needs, 30% wants and 20% savings.",
  "assumptions": [
    "All amounts are per month, and income is take-home pay (after tax), as the 50/30/20 rule uses.",
    "Needs are housing, utilities, groceries, transportation, health, childcare and required loan payments; wants are eating out, entertainment and other spending; savings include credit card payments and extra debt payments, as in All Your Worth.",
    "The 50/30/20 split is a rule of thumb from Elizabeth Warren and Amelia Warren Tyagi’s book All Your Worth, not an official standard.",
    "An empty spending box counts as $0."
  ],
  "inputs": {
    "$schema": "https://json-schema.org/draft/2020-12/schema",
    "type": "object",
    "properties": {
      "income": {
        "title": "Take-home pay a month",
        "description": "Monthly income after tax and other paycheck deductions, from all sources.",
        "type": "number",
        "x-unit": "USD",
        "minimum": 1,
        "maximum": 100000000
      },
      "housing": {
        "title": "Rent or mortgage",
        "description": "Monthly rent or mortgage payment.",
        "type": "number",
        "x-unit": "USD",
        "minimum": 0,
        "maximum": 100000000
      },
      "utilities": {
        "title": "Utilities, phone and internet",
        "description": "Gas, water, electricity, phone and internet.",
        "type": "number",
        "x-unit": "USD",
        "minimum": 0,
        "maximum": 100000000
      },
      "groceries": {
        "title": "Groceries and supplies",
        "description": "Food and household supplies.",
        "type": "number",
        "x-unit": "USD",
        "minimum": 0,
        "maximum": 100000000
      },
      "transport": {
        "title": "Transportation",
        "description": "Car payment, fuel, insurance, parking and transit fares.",
        "type": "number",
        "x-unit": "USD",
        "minimum": 0,
        "maximum": 100000000
      },
      "health": {
        "title": "Health and insurance",
        "description": "Health costs and insurance premiums not taken from your paycheck.",
        "type": "number",
        "x-unit": "USD",
        "minimum": 0,
        "maximum": 100000000
      },
      "childcare": {
        "title": "Childcare and education",
        "description": "Childcare, school costs and tuition.",
        "type": "number",
        "x-unit": "USD",
        "minimum": 0,
        "maximum": 100000000
      },
      "minDebt": {
        "title": "Loan payments",
        "description": "Required monthly payments on student loans and other loans. Put credit card payments under debt payoff.",
        "type": "number",
        "x-unit": "USD",
        "minimum": 0,
        "maximum": 100000000
      },
      "dining": {
        "title": "Eating out and entertainment",
        "description": "Restaurants, takeout, outings and hobbies.",
        "type": "number",
        "x-unit": "USD",
        "minimum": 0,
        "maximum": 100000000
      },
      "other": {
        "title": "Shopping and other",
        "description": "Clothes, subscriptions, gifts, travel and everything else.",
        "type": "number",
        "x-unit": "USD",
        "minimum": 0,
        "maximum": 100000000
      },
      "savings": {
        "title": "Savings and investments",
        "description": "Money put into savings, an emergency fund or retirement accounts.",
        "type": "number",
        "x-unit": "USD",
        "minimum": 0,
        "maximum": 100000000
      },
      "extraDebt": {
        "title": "Credit card and extra debt payments",
        "description": "Credit card payments and anything paid above the minimum on other debts. The 50/30/20 rule counts these as savings.",
        "type": "number",
        "x-unit": "USD",
        "minimum": 0,
        "maximum": 100000000
      }
    }
  },
  "outputs": {
    "left": {
      "label": "Left over each month",
      "description": "Take-home pay minus everything spent and saved. Negative means you spend more than you earn.",
      "format": "money"
    },
    "spending": {
      "label": "Spending and saving",
      "description": "Needs plus wants plus savings and extra debt payments.",
      "format": "money"
    },
    "needs": {
      "label": "Needs",
      "description": "Housing, utilities, groceries, transportation, health, childcare and minimum debt payments.",
      "format": "money"
    },
    "wants": {
      "label": "Wants",
      "description": "Eating out, entertainment, shopping and other spending.",
      "format": "money"
    },
    "saved": {
      "label": "Savings and debt payoff",
      "description": "Savings, investments, credit card payments and extra debt payments.",
      "format": "money"
    },
    "needsShare": {
      "label": "Needs share (50/30/20 target: 50%)",
      "description": "Needs as a percent of take-home pay.",
      "format": "percent"
    },
    "wantsShare": {
      "label": "Wants share (target: 30%)",
      "description": "Wants as a percent of take-home pay.",
      "format": "percent"
    },
    "savedShare": {
      "label": "Savings share (target: 20%)",
      "description": "Savings and extra debt payments as a percent of take-home pay.",
      "format": "percent"
    },
    "needsTarget": {
      "label": "50% for needs",
      "description": "Half of take-home pay: the 50/30/20 amount for needs.",
      "format": "money"
    },
    "wantsTarget": {
      "label": "30% for wants",
      "description": "30% of take-home pay: the 50/30/20 amount for wants.",
      "format": "money"
    },
    "savedTarget": {
      "label": "20% for savings",
      "description": "20% of take-home pay: the 50/30/20 amount for savings and extra debt payments.",
      "format": "money"
    }
  },
  "defaultAnswer": {
    "inputs": {
      "income": 5000,
      "housing": 1400,
      "utilities": 250,
      "groceries": 500,
      "transport": 400,
      "health": 250,
      "childcare": 0,
      "minDebt": 200,
      "dining": 300,
      "other": 300,
      "savings": 400,
      "extraDebt": 0
    },
    "outputs": {
      "left": 1000,
      "spending": 4000,
      "needs": 3000,
      "wants": 600,
      "saved": 400,
      "needsShare": 60,
      "wantsShare": 12,
      "savedShare": 8,
      "needsTarget": 2500,
      "wantsTarget": 1500,
      "savedTarget": 1000
    },
    "text": "On $5,000.00 of take-home pay a month, spending and saving $4,000.00 leaves $1,000.00."
  },
  "examples": [
    {
      "given": {
        "income": 4200,
        "housing": 1300,
        "utilities": 220,
        "groceries": 450,
        "transport": 350,
        "health": 180,
        "minDebt": 150,
        "dining": 250,
        "other": 200,
        "savings": 500,
        "extraDebt": 100
      },
      "expect": {
        "needs": 2650,
        "wants": 450,
        "saved": 600,
        "spending": 3700,
        "left": 500,
        "needsShare": 63.095238095238095,
        "wantsShare": 10.714285714285714,
        "savedShare": 14.285714285714285,
        "needsTarget": 2100,
        "wantsTarget": 1260,
        "savedTarget": 840
      },
      "source": "CFPB monthly budget (income − spending); hand calculation in content.mdx"
    },
    {
      "given": {
        "income": 6000,
        "housing": 3000,
        "dining": 1800,
        "savings": 1200
      },
      "expect": {
        "needsShare": 50,
        "wantsShare": 30,
        "savedShare": 20,
        "left": 0
      },
      "source": "Warren and Warren Tyagi, All Your Worth (2005): 50% needs, 30% wants, 20% savings; hand calculation in content.mdx"
    },
    {
      "given": {
        "income": 3000,
        "housing": 1800,
        "groceries": 600,
        "transport": 500,
        "dining": 300
      },
      "expect": {
        "spending": 3200,
        "left": -200,
        "needsShare": 96.66666666666667
      },
      "source": "CFPB monthly budget: expenses above income leave a shortfall; hand calculation in content.mdx"
    }
  ],
  "sources": [
    "Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Your Money, Your Goals: Monthly budget tool (list income, list spending, subtract spending from income). https://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/cfpb_well-being_monthly-budget.pdf",
    "Warren, E., and Warren Tyagi, A. (2005). All Your Worth: The Ultimate Lifetime Money Plan. Free Press. (The Balanced Money Formula: 50% must-haves, 30% wants, 20% savings and debt payoff, from after-tax income.)"
  ],
  "related": [
    "gross-income",
    "debt-to-income-ratio",
    "compound-interest"
  ],
  "changelog": [
    {
      "date": "2026-09-29",
      "note": "The chart splits spending into needs, wants and savings, so it stays true when spending is over the take-home pay (muse review)."
    }
  ]
}