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📊 50/30/20 Budget Calculator
Most budgets fail because they have 19 categories and your life has 47. The 50/30/20 rule trades precision for survivability: half your after-tax pay covers what you must have (rent, utilities, groceries, insurance, minimum debt), 30% covers what you want (eating out, hobbies, subscriptions), 20% builds your future (retirement, extra debt payments, emergency fund). It is too simple to be optimal, but simple enough that you might actually stick with it for a year — which beats every clever spreadsheet you abandon in February.
Examples
$5,000/mo after taxNeeds $2,500 · Wants $1,500 · Savings $1,000$8,333/mo after taxNeeds $4,167 · Wants $2,500 · Savings $1,667Frequently asked questions
Use gross or net income?
Net (after-tax). The rule is about what you actually take home. If self-employed, deduct estimated taxes first.
What if rent alone is more than 50%?
Common in HCOL cities. Either reduce wants/savings, find cheaper housing, or accept 60/20/20 or 70/20/10 as your variant.
Does 401k count as savings?
Yes — any retirement contribution is part of the 20%.
What about debt payoff?
Minimum payments are "needs." Extra debt payments are "savings" (you're reducing liabilities, which grows net worth).
About this calculator
50/30/20 Budget Calculator runs entirely in your browser using standard formulas. No data is sent to any server. We don't share your inputs with lenders, brokers, or anyone else — there's no funnel and no follow-up email.
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- ❄️ Debt Snowball vs Avalanche — Compare debt payoff strategies: smallest balance first vs highest interest first.
Why this calculator
vs typical free finance-calculator sites
| RichCalcs | Typical free site | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Signup required | No | Often (for full results) |
| Ads inside the calculator | No | Yes (banner + sidebar) |
| Lead capture (email / phone) | No | Yes — sold to lenders |
| Data sent to server | No (browser-only) | Yes (analytics + tracking) |
| Amortization schedule | Full table | Often summary only |
| Bookmarkable URL per calc | Yes | Mixed |
| Loads in under 1s | Yes (static) | Often slow (ad tracking) |
| Open source | Yes | No |