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50/30/20 Budget Calculator

Split your monthly income into needs, wants, and savings using the 50/30/20 budgeting rule.

Your 50/30/20 Split

5,000

Monthly income

Needs (50%)
2,500

Rent, utilities, groceries, minimum debt payments

Wants (30%)
1,500

Dining out, subscriptions, hobbies

Savings & debt payoff (20%)
1,000

Emergency fund, investments, extra debt payments

On this page

The 50/30/20 rule is a simple starting budget: 50% of after-tax income to needs, 30% to wants, and 20% to savings and debt payoff beyond the minimum. Enter your monthly income above to see the split.

The formula

Needs    = income x 0.50
Wants    = income x 0.30
Savings  = income x 0.20

Example

The rule is currency-agnostic: it splits whatever you earn, in whatever you earn it in. On a monthly after-tax income of 5,000, that's 2,500 for needs, 1,500 for wants, and 1,000 toward savings or extra debt payments.

Turning this into a habit

A calculator gives you the target; expense tracking is what tells you whether you're hitting it. Once you know your real needs/wants split, you can set those three numbers as budgets in Money Manager and log against them.

Frequently asked questions

What counts as a 'need' vs a 'want'?
Needs are costs you can't avoid without real hardship - rent, utilities, groceries, minimum debt payments. Wants are everything discretionary: dining out, subscriptions, hobbies. When in doubt, ask whether you'd keep paying for it if your income dropped 20%.
What if my needs are more than 50% of my income?
That's common in high cost-of-living areas - treat 50/30/20 as a starting target, not a hard rule. Shift the split toward needs and trim the wants category first; the 20% savings floor is the number worth protecting most.