See what is left after housing, essentials and discretionary spending — and how your split compares with 50/30/20.
Groceries, utilities, transport, insurance, childcare, minimum debt payments.
Example Result
Your result will appear here
The calculated result will appear here after you press Calculate.
Estimates for planning only; not financial, tax or investment advice. See our Disclaimer.
A budget answers one question: after everything you have to pay and everything you choose to pay for, how much of this month's income is left? This calculator works from four numbers — take-home income and three spending groups (housing, other essentials, discretionary) — and returns the amount left over, that amount as a share of income, the share of income that goes on housing, and your needs / wants / left-over split next to the 50/30/20 guideline. Use last month's real figures from your bank statement rather than the budget you intend to keep; the difference between the two is usually where the money goes. The guide below works through three households, shows how to sort awkward costs into the right group, and explains how the 50/30/20 guideline maps onto the result.
Enter your monthly income after tax and payroll deductions.
Enter housing costs, then other essentials such as food, utilities, transport, insurance and minimum debt payments.
Enter discretionary spending and press Calculate.
Compare your needs / wants / left-over split with 50/30/20 and start with the group that is furthest off.
By O.E. — Partner, chairman of the board and CEO of a metal products manufacturer for 21 years; the company exports to 45 countries.
Drafted with AI assistance; calculations checked against primary sources and tested with the site's own code. About FlowUtil
Last reviewed
Remaining = take-home income − (housing + other essentials + discretionary). The calculator also shows each group as a share of income: needs (housing + essentials), wants (discretionary) and what is left. Irregular bills — annual insurance premiums, car registration, a holiday — belong in the month too: divide the yearly cost by 12 and add it to the right group.
| Symbol | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Housing | Rent or mortgage payment, property tax and home insurance paid monthly, HOA or service charge |
| Other essentials | Groceries, utilities, phone, transport, insurance, childcare, minimum debt payments, prescriptions |
| Discretionary | Eating out, entertainment, subscriptions, non-essential clothes, hobbies, gifts, holidays |
| Left over | What is available for savings and extra debt payments |
1$5,200 take-home; housing $1,600, essentials $1,200, discretionary $900.
5,200 − 3,700
Left over $1,500 (28.85%) · housing 30.77% · needs 53.85%, wants 17.31%
A comfortable surplus; the needs group is a little above 50%.
2$3,800 take-home; housing $1,700, essentials $1,400, discretionary $900.
3,800 − 4,000
Left over −$200 (−5.26%) · housing 44.74%
The gap is being covered by a credit card or savings. Even cutting all discretionary spending would leave little to save — the housing cost is the real problem.
3$6,000 take-home; housing $1,800, essentials $1,200, discretionary $1,800.
6,000 − 4,800
Needs 50% · wants 30% · left over $1,200 (20%)
A textbook 50/30/20 split.
The 50/30/20 guideline, popularised by Elizabeth Warren and Amelia Warren Tyagi, splits take-home pay into needs (50%), wants (30%) and savings plus debt repayment beyond the minimums (20%). Here needs = housing + essentials, wants = discretionary, and the 20% is the amount left over — available, but only saved once you move it. It is a guideline, not a test: in expensive cities housing alone often passes 35% of take-home pay, and the fix is usually in the needs group, not the wants group.