Split your monthly take-home pay into needs, wants and savings, then compare those targets with what you actually spend to see whether your budget balances.
Advanced: currency symbol
Each bar is read against the full width of your income. When an actual segment is wider than the target segment above it, that bucket is over the rule; when it is narrower, that bucket is under the rule.
| Bucket | Target | Your actual | Gap |
|---|
A positive gap means you spend or save more than the target for that bucket; a negative gap means you fall short of it. Over-spending in one bucket has to be balanced by under-spending in another for the whole plan to add up.
For beginners: how to read this result
Describe the task to the AI assistant and continue from the result.
Open AI assistant →To get a result, choose one of the example budgets or enter your own figures: your monthly take-home income and your real monthly totals for the three buckets — Needs, Wants and Savings. The calculator returns a target amount for each bucket, your actual amount, the gap between them, and a verdict on whether the whole plan adds up.
The two split modes
The split-mode toggle controls which percentages the targets use, and which fields are shown on screen.
- Standard 50 / 30 / 20 — the targets are locked at 50% for needs, 30% for wants and 20% for savings. The custom-ratio percentage fields stay hidden in this mode.
- Custom ratios — three percentage fields appear so you can set your own split. They must add up to 100; if they do not, the calculator shows a clear warning and waits for you to correct them.
How the math works
Each bucket target is your take-home income multiplied by that bucket’s percentage and divided by 100. With a $4,000 income the standard rule gives a needs target of $2,000, a wants target of $1,200 and a savings target of $800. The gap for a bucket is your actual amount minus its target: a positive gap means you spend or save more than the target, a negative gap means you fall short. The plan balances when your three actual amounts together equal your income — every dollar has a job. If they total more than your income you are overspending; if they total less, some income is unassigned.
What the buckets cover
Needs are essentials you cannot easily skip: rent or mortgage, utilities, groceries, transport to work, insurance and the minimum payments on any debt. Wants are lifestyle spending: dining out, subscriptions, hobbies, shopping and travel. Savings covers an emergency fund, longer-term saving, investments and any debt payment above the required minimum. The split between a need and a want is a judgement call — the calculator follows the totals you decide on.
The target-versus-actual visual
Two stacked bars sit one above the other on the same scale. The top bar is the target split; the bottom bar is your actual split. When an actual segment is wider than the target segment above it, that bucket is over the rule; when it is narrower, that bucket is under the rule. The comparison table below lists the exact target, actual and gap for every bucket.
What is not included
This is a planning estimate for one typical month. It assumes income is entered after tax, and it does not handle irregular pay, annual or one-off bills, debt interest or investment growth. The 50/30/20 split is a guideline rather than a rule; high housing costs or an aggressive savings goal often justify custom ratios. Treat the result as a sanity check and adjust the buckets and percentages to fit your own situation.