50/30/20 budget calculator
Split your monthly take-home pay into needs, wants and savings. Adjust the split to fit your bills.
Free · USD · No account needed
Open calculator in a new tab ↗
Start with take-home pay
Enter what reaches your account after taxes and payroll deductions. The calculator puts 50% toward needs, 30% toward wants and 20% toward savings or extra debt payments. It also offers 60/20/20 and 70/20/10 splits.
The percentages are a starting point. If essential costs take more than half your income, use the actual costs when making your plan. A different split can describe that reality; it does not make the bills smaller.
CFPB: My spending rule to live by ↗
| Split | Needs | Wants | Savings / extra debt |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50/30/20 | $2,000 | $1,200 | $800 |
| 60/20/20 | $2,400 | $800 | $800 |
| 70/20/10 | $2,800 | $800 | $400 |
Sort needs and wants
Start needs with housing, basic groceries, utilities, essential transport, insurance and required minimum debt payments. Wants might include eating out, entertainment and optional subscriptions. A service you need for work may belong somewhere different from a service you use for fun.
For this calculator, extra debt payments go in the savings bucket. Keep the required minimum in needs, and count each payment once. Money already deducted from your paycheck for retirement is not part of the take-home amount entered here.
Check the split against a real month
Review a complete month of transactions in Loaf. Check the categories, exclude transfers between your own accounts from purchase totals, and decide which categories belong in needs or wants. Compare those totals with the calculator’s targets.
With Loaf Connect, try asking your AI app: “Show my spending by category for last month, excluding transfers. Help me group it into needs and wants, and ask me about anything ambiguous.” Review its grouping before using the result.
These calculator results do not create a Loaf plan or move money. Keep the targets you choose, then repeat the comparison next month with the same accounts and categories.