{
  "slug": "budget-50-30-20",
  "title": "50/30/20 Budget Calculator",
  "heading": "50/30/20 Budget Calculator",
  "category": "financial",
  "url": "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/budget-50-30-20",
  "summary": "Split take-home pay into needs, wants, and savings.",
  "description": "The rule allocates 50% of after-tax income to needs, 30% to wants, and 20% to savings and debt payoff. In high-cost metros the needs bucket often runs 60%+, which is a signal, not a failure.",
  "formula": "Needs = 50%, wants = 30%, savings = 20% of take-home pay.",
  "dateModified": "2026-09-30",
  "run_url": "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/api/public/calc?tool=budget-50-30-20",
  "inputs": [
    {
      "id": "takeHome",
      "label": "Monthly take-home pay",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 5400,
      "unit": "$",
      "min": 0,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "needs",
      "label": "Actual spending on needs",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 3100,
      "unit": "$",
      "min": 0,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "wants",
      "label": "Actual spending on wants",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 1450,
      "unit": "$",
      "min": 0,
      "max": null
    },
    {
      "id": "savings",
      "label": "Actual savings and debt payoff",
      "kind": "number",
      "hint": null,
      "default": 700,
      "unit": "$",
      "min": 0,
      "max": null
    }
  ],
  "outputs": [
    {
      "id": "needsTarget",
      "label": "Needs budget (50%)",
      "format": "currency",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": true
    },
    {
      "id": "wantsTarget",
      "label": "Wants budget (30%)",
      "format": "currency",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    },
    {
      "id": "savingsTarget",
      "label": "Savings budget (20%)",
      "format": "currency",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    },
    {
      "id": "needsPct",
      "label": "Your actual needs share",
      "format": "percent",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    },
    {
      "id": "savingsPct",
      "label": "Your actual savings rate",
      "format": "percent",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    },
    {
      "id": "unallocated",
      "label": "Unallocated each month",
      "format": "currency",
      "hint": null,
      "primary": false
    }
  ],
  "worked_example": {
    "inputs": [
      "Monthly take-home pay: 5400 $",
      "Actual spending on needs: 3100 $",
      "Actual spending on wants: 1450 $",
      "Actual savings and debt payoff: 700 $"
    ],
    "outputs": [
      "Needs budget (50%): $2,700.00",
      "Wants budget (30%): $1,620.00",
      "Savings budget (20%): $1,080.00",
      "Your actual needs share: 57.4%",
      "Your actual savings rate: 13.0%",
      "Unallocated each month: $150.00"
    ]
  },
  "how_to": {
    "title": "How to use this",
    "steps": [
      "Enter monthly take-home pay ($).",
      "Enter actual spending on needs ($).",
      "Enter actual spending on wants ($).",
      "Enter actual savings and debt payoff ($).",
      "Read your needs budget (50%) on the right — it updates as you type.",
      "Hit Share to keep the scenario or send it to someone."
    ]
  },
  "scenarios": [
    {
      "name": "Conservative",
      "description": "Lower-end numbers — what if things land soft?",
      "values": {
        "takeHome": 3200,
        "needs": 1850,
        "wants": 850,
        "savings": 400
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "Typical",
      "description": "Defaults — the most common real-world setup.",
      "values": {
        "takeHome": 5400,
        "needs": 3100,
        "wants": 1450,
        "savings": 700
      }
    },
    {
      "name": "Ambitious",
      "description": "Higher-end numbers — what if things really pop?",
      "values": {
        "takeHome": 8600,
        "needs": 4950,
        "wants": 2300,
        "savings": 1100
      }
    }
  ],
  "limitations": [
    "Results are estimates before tax, fees, and inflation unless an input explicitly covers them.",
    "Rates are treated as fixed for the whole period — variable-rate products will drift from this projection.",
    "This is educational maths, not financial advice. Check anything contractual with the lender or your accountant."
  ],
  "faq": [
    {
      "q": "How does the 50/30/20 budget calculator work?",
      "a": "The rule allocates 50% of after-tax income to needs, 30% to wants, and 20% to savings and debt payoff. In high-cost metros the needs bucket often runs 60%+, which is a signal, not a failure. The underlying maths is: Needs = 50%, wants = 30%, savings = 20% of take-home pay."
    },
    {
      "q": "What do I need to enter?",
      "a": "4 values: monthly take-home pay, actual spending on needs, actual spending on wants, and actual savings and debt payoff. Each field starts with a sensible default, so you can change one number at a time and watch the result move."
    },
    {
      "q": "What does the needs budget (50%) result mean?",
      "a": "It is returned as a money amount in US dollars and updates live as you edit the inputs, so you can compare two or three versions of a scenario in a few seconds."
    },
    {
      "q": "Is this calculator free, and do I need an account?",
      "a": "Yes, it's free, and no account is required. Nothing you type is stored on our servers — the maths runs entirely in your browser."
    },
    {
      "q": "How accurate is the result?",
      "a": "It applies the standard formula exactly, so the arithmetic is precise. Results are estimates before tax, fees, and inflation unless an input explicitly covers them."
    },
    {
      "q": "Who is this tool for?",
      "a": "It's built for anyone comparing money scenarios before committing — budgeting a payment, sanity-checking a quote, or seeing what a change in rate or term actually costs."
    }
  ],
  "related": [
    "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/emergency-fund",
    "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/sinking-fund",
    "https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/savings-rate-fi"
  ],
  "license": "CC-BY-4.0",
  "citation": "RevenueLab — 50/30/20 Budget Calculator (https://www.revenuelab.fyi/toolbox/budget-50-30-20)"
}