50 / 30 / 20 Budget Calculator
Enter your monthly take-home. Get an instant breakdown for needs, wants and savings — the classic rule, with plain amounts.
Your monthly take-home
Custom split (optional)
Savings = 100% − Needs − Wants (auto-adjusts).
Your monthly budget
In high-rent metros, 60/20/20 or 70/15/15 may fit better. Use the sliders to match your reality.
What goes in each bucket?
Needs (50% suggested)
Rent or home loan instalment, groceries, utility bills, education fees, insurance premiums, minimum loan repayments, basic transport. Anything you cannot skip without disruption.
Wants (30% suggested)
Eating out, streaming subscriptions, shopping, weekend trips, gym, gadgets. Anything that adds quality of life but is not essential.
Savings & investments (20% suggested)
Emergency fund (3–6 months of expenses), recurring investments (mutual funds, ETFs, retirement accounts), fixed deposits / CDs, term insurance premiums, retirement contributions, principal pre-payment on housing loans.
Frequently asked questions
What is the 50/30/20 rule?
A simple budgeting framework popularised by US Senator Elizabeth Warren. Spend 50% of your take-home pay on needs (rent, food, utilities, loan instalments), 30% on wants (eating out, entertainment, shopping), and save/invest the remaining 20%.
Does the 50/30/20 rule work in high-cost cities?
It works as a starting point. In expensive metros, rent alone can be 30–40% of take-home — many people adjust to 60/20/20 or 70/15/15 in those cases. Use the calculator above to see your real split.
Should I count loan EMI as needs or savings?
Home loan EMI is a need (housing). But the principal portion of the EMI builds equity, so some advisors include it in savings. Practical approach: count the full EMI under needs and use the 20% savings bucket for retirement / emergency fund / investments separately.
What if I cannot save 20%?
Start with whatever you can — even 5% saved monthly compounds meaningfully over 10+ years. Then automate it: increase by 1 percentage point every 6 months until you hit 20%.
Turn your budget into a habit.
Money Track's Budgets module tracks your actual spend against limits per category — automatically.
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