Free tool
50/30/20 budget calculator
The 50/30/20 rule splits after-tax income three ways: 50% to needs (rent, groceries, utilities, minimum debt payments), 30% to wants, 20% to savings and extra debt payments. Enter your income; adjust the ratios if your city's rent laughs at 50%.
Needs
1,750.00
rent, groceries, utilities, transport, minimum debt payments
Wants
1,050.00
dining out, streaming, hobbies, travel
Savings & debt
700.00
emergency fund, investing, extra debt payments
Budgets meet reality on the statement
A budget is a plan; your bank statement is what actually happened. Upload a statement and StatementDecoder shows where the money really went — subscriptions you forgot, fees you didn't notice, and the merchants quietly taking a bigger share each month.
What the 50/30/20 rule actually is
Popularised by Elizabeth Warren, the rule splits after-tax income into 50% needs (housing, utilities, groceries, minimum debt payments, insurance, transport to work), 30% wants (restaurants, streaming, travel, upgrades), and 20% savings and extra debt repayment. Its value isn't precision — it's that three buckets are few enough to actually maintain, unlike 40-line budgets that die by February.
The hard part is honest classification. Groceries are a need; food delivery is a want. The base phone plan is a need; the flagship upgrade is a want. Minimum loan payments are a need; extra principal is savings. The calculator gives you the targets — the classification discipline is what makes them mean something.
When your numbers don't fit the rule
In high-rent cities, needs frequently exceed 50% — that's information, not failure. Adjust the framework (55/25/20 is common) rather than abandoning it, and treat the gap as the argument for the big levers: housing, transport, and recurring contracts. On the other side, if wants are quietly eating 45%, the fix is usually subscriptions and food delivery — the two categories that grow without decisions.
To see your real split rather than your estimated one, upload a statement to the analyzer: identified merchants and categories show where the money actually went, which is the honest starting point for any budget.
50/30/20 vs zero-based and pay-yourself-first
50/30/20 is the framework you reach for when you want structure without bookkeeping. Zero-based budgeting is the opposite trade: you assign every unit of income a job until nothing's left, which is more accurate and more work, and tends to suit variable or tight incomes where every choice counts. Pay-yourself-first is the minimalist version — automate the savings slice on payday and spend the rest freely — which wins on adherence because it removes the monthly decision entirely.
They're not exclusive. A common setup is pay-yourself-first for the 20% (automated the day you're paid) with 50/30/20 as the sanity check on the rest. Pick the one you'll actually keep doing; the best budget is the one that survives a busy month.
Frequently asked questions
Is the 50/30/20 split before or after tax?
After tax — use your take-home pay. If you have pre-tax retirement contributions, count them toward the 20% savings bucket when judging your rate.
What if my needs are more than 50%?
Common in expensive cities. Keep the discipline, shift the ratio (e.g. 55/25/20), and focus reductions on the structural items — housing, car, contracts — rather than only trimming small wants.
Do debt payments count as needs or savings?
Minimum payments are needs — missing them has consequences. Anything above the minimum is doing the job of savings and belongs in the 20%.
How do I find out my actual current split?
From your statement, not your memory: upload it to the analyzer and the categorised spending shows your real needs/wants split — usually 10–15 points off what people estimate.
Is 50/30/20 good for a low income?
It's harder when needs already exceed 50%, which is common on a low income or in an expensive city — that's information, not failure. Loosen the ratios (55/25/20 is common) and focus the effort on the big levers like housing and transport; for very tight budgets, zero-based budgeting often fits better.
How is 50/30/20 different from zero-based budgeting?
50/30/20 sorts spending into three broad buckets and checks the proportions — light-touch and easy to maintain. Zero-based budgeting assigns every dollar a specific job until the balance is zero — more precise and more effort, better for variable or tight incomes.
Free to try
See everything hiding in your bank statement
Upload a statement and get every merchant identified, subscriptions with real yearly costs, trials that quietly converted, duplicate charges and bank fees — in about thirty seconds. Free account, no card required, files deleted automatically after 24 hours.
No bank logins · card numbers redacted before storage · everything deleted after 24 hours
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