What is the 50/30/20 rule?

It is a budgeting guideline that allocates 50% of your take-home pay to needs, 30% to wants, and 20% to savings and debt repayment.

Should I use gross or net income?

Use your take-home (net) pay after tax and deductions, because that is the money you actually control month to month.

Is my income data stored anywhere?

No: every calculation runs locally in your browser and nothing is sent to a server.

Who created the 50/30/20 rule?

It was popularised by US senator and bankruptcy expert Elizabeth Warren and her daughter Amelia Warren Tyagi in their 2005 book "All Your Worth: The Ultimate Lifetime Money Plan".

What counts as a need versus a want?

Needs are essentials you cannot easily avoid — rent or mortgage, utilities, groceries, insurance, minimum debt payments and transport to work. Wants are discretionary — dining out, streaming, hobbies, holidays and upgrades. If you could pause it without serious consequence, it is usually a want.

What if my needs are more than 50%?

In high-cost areas needs often exceed 50%. Treat the split as a target: trim the wants category first, and look for ways to lower fixed costs. Even saving 10% is better than nothing while you work toward 20%.

Does the 20% include debt repayment?

Yes. The 20% bucket covers both saving (emergency fund, investments) and paying down debt beyond the minimums, since extra debt repayment builds net worth the same way saving does.

50/30/20 Budget Calculator

50/30/20 budget calculator

The 50/30/20 rule is a simple, beginner-friendly framework for managing money, popularised by Elizabeth Warren in her book All Your Worth. It splits your monthly take-home pay into three buckets so you cover essentials, still enjoy life, and steadily build savings — without tracking dozens of line items. Enter your net income and this calculator shows each amount instantly.

How it works

The calculator takes your monthly take-home (net) income and divides it into three fixed proportions:

50% Needs — rent or mortgage, bills, groceries, transport, insurance
30% Wants — dining out, hobbies, subscriptions, entertainment
20% Savings & debt — emergency fund, investments, extra repayments

Each amount is simply your income multiplied by 0.50, 0.30 and 0.20. Use net rather than gross pay, because that is the money you actually control once tax and deductions are taken out.

Example

On a monthly take-home income of £2,500:

Category	Share	Amount
Needs	50%	£1,250.00
Wants	30%	£750.00
Savings & debt	20%	£500.00

So you would aim to keep essentials under £1,250, spend up to £750 on discretionary wants, and direct £500 toward savings and paying down debt.

Treat the numbers as a starting point and shift money between categories to fit your circumstances. Every calculation runs locally in your browser — nothing is uploaded.