Budget Calculator

Split your take-home pay into needs, wants and savings with the 50/30/20 rule, and see how it compares with what you really spend.

Take-home pay

Paid

Your pay after tax. Not sure? Work it out with our Pay Calculator.

Your costs a month (examples: change them to yours)

Rent or mortgage

Bills and utilities

Groceries

Transport

Insurance and health

Debt payments

Fun and other

Savings

Left each month

$200

You spend $4,500 and save $300 of your $5,000 take-home pay

Needs: $3,900 (78%)
Saving: $300 (6%)

Needs$3,900
Wants$600
Savings$300
Left over$200

What this means

Give the $500 you don’t spend a job: first an emergency fund of three to six months of needs ($11,700–$23,400), then clearing expensive debt, then investing for later.

The 50/30/20 guide would save $1,000 a month, $700 more than now.

Next step

Compared with the 50/30/20 guide

	Guide	You
Needs (50%)	$2,500	$3,900	Over
Wants (30%)	$1,500	$600	✓
Savings (20%)	$1,000	$300	Under

What to do next

Move your $200 left over into savings. You’d then need $500 more a month to save 20%.
Your needs are $1,400 over the 50% guide. Housing is usually the biggest cost to look at.
Aim for an emergency fund of 3 to 6 months of needs: $11,700 to $23,400.

Assumptions in this estimate

Needs are rent or mortgage, bills, groceries, transport, insurance and health, and debt payments. Wants are everything else you spend. Savings is money you put aside or invest.
The 50/30/20 guide is a simple starting point, not a strict rule. Where housing is expensive, needs often take more than half.
Fortnightly and weekly pay are turned into a monthly amount (26 fortnights or 52 weeks a year).

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How the calculator works

Your pay: your take-home pay, a month, a fortnight or a week.
Your costs: rent or mortgage, bills, groceries, transport, insurance and health, debt payments, fun and savings. The boxes start with example amounts: change them to yours.
What’s left: the big result is what you have left each month. Below, you can see how you compare with the 50/30/20 guide, and what to do next.

Not sure what you take home? Use our pay calculator.

Example

On $5,000 a month of take-home pay:

	Share	A month	A year
Needs	50%	$2,500	$30,000
Wants	30%	$1,500	$18,000
Savings	20%	$1,000	$12,000

Last updated October 14, 2026

Frequently asked questions

What is the 50/30/20 rule?

A simple way to split your take-home pay: 50% on needs, 30% on wants and 20% on savings and paying off debt. On $5,000 a month, that’s $2,500, $1,500 and $1,000.

What counts as needs and wants?

Needs are what you must pay: housing, bills, groceries, transport, insurance and minimum debt payments. Wants are the extras, like eating out, shopping, subscriptions and holidays.

What if my needs are more than 50%?

That’s common, especially where housing is expensive. Try a 60/20/20 split, look at your biggest costs first, and keep saving something, even if it’s less than 20%.

How big should my emergency fund be?

A common aim is 3 to 6 months of essential spending. With $2,500 a month of needs, that’s $7,500 to $15,000.

Should I save or pay off debt first?

Build a small emergency fund first, then pay off high-interest debt such as credit cards, which usually costs more than savings earn. Our debt payoff calculator shows the quickest way to clear it.