Paycheck budget split
Turn each paycheck into a clear plan. Enter your take-home pay and pick a budgeting rule — 50/30/20, 70/20/10, 60/20/20, or your own custom split — and the tool divides your pay into three buckets: needs, wants, and savings. It is a fast way to sanity-check spending and make sure something goes toward savings before the money disappears.
How it works
The calculator takes the percentages for the chosen rule and applies each to your pay:
needs = pay × (needs % ÷ 100)
wants = pay × (wants % ÷ 100)
savings = pay × (savings % ÷ 100)With a preset, the percentages are fixed and always total 100%. In custom mode you enter your own three figures, and the tool warns you if they do not add up to 100% so nothing is unallocated or double-counted.
Example
Take-home pay 3,000 on the 50/30/20 rule:
- Needs: 3,000 × 0.50 = 1,500
- Wants: 3,000 × 0.30 = 900
- Savings: 3,000 × 0.20 = 600
| Rule | Needs | Wants | Savings |
|---|---|---|---|
| 50/30/20 | 1,500 | 900 | 600 |
| 70/20/10 | 2,100 | 600 | 300 |
| 60/20/20 | 1,800 | 600 | 600 |
Everything stays in your browser — no income data is uploaded.
Choosing the right rule for your situation
The 50/30/20 rule is the most widely taught starting point because it balances lifestyle spending with meaningful savings. It works well for average earners in average-cost areas.
The 70/20/10 rule shifts more toward necessities — useful if you live in a high-cost city or carry a heavy housing expense. The smaller savings slice (10%) still beats nothing, and over time it builds a genuine cushion.
The 60/20/20 rule keeps savings at 20% but trims wants to match, useful if your needs are genuinely moderate but you want to prioritize building wealth.
Custom mode is the right choice if none of the presets fit your real life. For example, someone with significant student loan debt might use 50% needs, 10% wants, and 40% debt repayment plus savings.
What counts as a need vs. a want
The hardest part of any budget rule is sorting expenses correctly. Needs are non-negotiable: rent, utilities, groceries, essential transport, minimum debt payments, and health insurance. Wants are anything discretionary — dining out, streaming subscriptions, gym memberships, clothing beyond the basics, holidays.
Some items sit in the grey zone. A car is a need in many places but a newer model is a want. Broadband internet is increasingly a need; a faster tier may be a want. Being honest about this classification is what makes the rule useful rather than a way to justify overspending.
Handling irregular income
For freelancers or those with variable pay, run each paycheck through the calculator as it arrives rather than using an annual average. On an above-average month, direct the surplus into savings. On a lean month, wants is the natural buffer — reduce it rather than cutting savings below your target.