Three calculators
Three calculators, each built to show exactly where your take-home pay is going and what's genuinely left over.
Zero-based budget builder
Give every dollar of your take-home pay a job — housing, food, transport, utilities, debt and everything else — and see exactly what's left.
Assumptions this uses
- Uses monthly take-home pay, not gross income before taxes
- Assumes the amounts entered are realistic recent averages, not aspirational targets
- Treats savings as a category you assign, not an automatic leftover
- Does not include annual or irregular expenses unless you divide them into a monthly amount first
- A planning tool, not a live view of your actual bank balance
Limitations: Does not connect to your bank accounts and cannot verify actual spending against these categories.
Runs entirely in your browser.
A budget category with $0 left is a feature, not a failure
In a zero-based budget, every dollar of take-home pay gets assigned somewhere — needs, wants, savings or debt payoff — so hitting $0 left over at the bottom of the plan means the plan is working, not that you've run out of money. If a category runs short partway through the month, that's useful information about where your estimate was off, not a reason to abandon the whole budget.
50/30/20 split
See the quick 50% needs, 30% wants, 20% savings split for your take-home pay, as a starting frame or a sanity check.
Assumptions this uses
- Applies a fixed 50/30/20 split to whatever take-home pay you enter
- Assumes take-home pay, not gross income
- Does not account for household size, location or housing cost differences
- A starting frame, not a rule that fits every household
Limitations: High housing costs in many US cities make a strict 50% needs ceiling unrealistic; adjust the split rather than treating it as fixed.
Runs entirely in your browser.
The Zero-Based Budget Starter Kit
A worksheet for building your first zero-based monthly budget from your actual take-home pay.
Get the free guide →Savings goal timeline
Find out how long it takes to reach an emergency fund or savings goal at a given monthly contribution.
Assumptions this uses
- Assumes a consistent monthly contribution, not an irregular one
- Assumes interest, if any, compounds monthly at the rate entered
- Does not account for inflation reducing the real value of the target over time
- A basic savings account rate is assumed, not investment returns
Limitations: Actual timelines will vary if the monthly contribution changes month to month, which is common with irregular income.
Runs entirely in your browser.
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See a real budgeting app built around this method
Once you know which method fits, a dedicated app can make it easier to stick with day to day.
Compare budgeting apps →