Budget calculator
By Sol Lakein, founder of Slower Sundays. Updated November 2026.
Your spending, by category
The amounts below are an example. Replace them with your own.
Your housing line of $1,800 covers the median 2-bedroom rent in 93 of 118 metros we track. See where rent fits your pay
How the 50/30/20 budget works
50% needs
Rent or mortgage, utilities, groceries, getting to work, insurance, minimum debt payments.
30% wants
Dining out, travel, hobbies, subscriptions, shopping beyond the basics.
20% savings
Emergency fund, retirement, a down payment, and paying debt down faster.
Budgeting: questions people ask
What is the 50/30/20 budget?
Half of your take-home pay goes to needs (housing, utilities, groceries, transportation, insurance, minimum debt payments), 30% to wants and 20% to savings and paying down debt faster. On $5,000 a month that is $2,500, $1,500 and $1,000.
Is the 50/30/20 rule based on gross or take-home pay?
Take-home pay, after taxes. The 30% rent rule, by contrast, uses gross pay.
What if my needs take more than 50%?
In expensive cities housing alone can take most of the needs budget. Cut wants first, then look at what the same life costs elsewhere with our cost of living calculator.
What counts as a need?
Costs you must pay to live and work: rent or mortgage, utilities, groceries, getting to work, insurance and minimum loan payments. Dining out, travel and subscriptions are wants.
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Notes on the numbers
- 1The 50/30/20 rule splits after-tax income: 50% for needs, 30% for wants, 20% for savings and extra debt payments. Elizabeth Warren and Amelia Warren Tyagi set it out in All Your Worth (2005).
- 2Rent comparison: Census ACS 2025 1-year, table B25031, median gross rent by number of bedrooms (rent plus utilities the renter pays), 2025. Census table