Budget Calculator
Build a monthly budget: take-home pay against housing, bills, food, transport, debt, savings and spending — with the surplus or shortfall.
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Currency: Amounts are calculated in the currency you select; this site does not convert between currencies and does not use live exchange rates.
What this tool does
A straightforward monthly budget: enter take-home pay and the nine spending buckets most households actually have, and it totals the plan, shows the surplus or shortfall, and flags two health checks — your savings rate and whether housing stays near the 30%-of-income guideline.
How to use the Budget Calculator
- Enter your figures in the fields above.
- Check the filing status, state and pay-frequency selections — they change the tables used.
- Read the headline result first, then the breakdown: it shows exactly which tax or amount produced each line.
- Change any input to compare scenarios; the result updates with the same dated tables shown on this page.
Formula
surplus = take-home income − Σ expenses; savings rate = savings ÷ income; housing share = housing ÷ income
- take-home income
- Pay after tax — what lands in the account, per month
Worked example
On $5,500 take-home, the sample budget spends and saves $4,800, leaving a $700 surplus, a 9.1% savings rate and housing at 32.7% of income.
Inputs
- Monthly take-home income5500
- Housing (rent/mortgage)1800
- Utilities and phone250
- Groceries600
- Transportation (car, fuel, transit)400
- Insurance300
- Debt payments (minimums)350
- Savings and investing500
- Personal, dining and fun400
- Other expenses200
Result
- Monthly surplus$700.00
- Total monthly spending and saving$4,800.00
- Savings rate9.09%
- Housing share of income32.73%
Results explained
- Monthly surplus
- What is left unassigned — negative means the plan spends more than you take home.
- Savings rate
- Savings and investing as a share of take-home income.
Frequently asked questions
Common guidance is 15–20% of gross income toward retirement including any employer match; as a share of take-home pay that often looks like 12–18%. Any consistent positive rate beats none — automate it on payday.
Keeping rent or mortgage (often plus utilities) near 30% of income leaves room for everything else. In high-cost cities many households exceed it; the trade-off must come from the other buckets.
Start with the largest flexible lines — personal spending, groceries and transport — then attack fixed costs: refinance or prepay debt, re-shop insurance, and renegotiate subscriptions. A shortfall funded by credit cards compounds fast.
List the minimums as an expense; anything extra you pay deliberately belongs in your plan as its own line so the surplus stays honest.
Whenever income, rent or a major bill changes, and at least once a year. This tool stores nothing — your numbers never leave your browser.