Budget Calculator

Your inputs

Enter take-home amounts (after tax). Rename, add or remove rows to match your own budget; set a row to 0 if it does not apply.

Monthly income after tax

Source	Per month
	$
	$

For a household budget, add a row for each earner. Irregular income: use a cautious monthly average.

Monthly expenses

Category	Per month
	$
	$
	$
	$
	$
	$
	$
	$
	$
	$

Regular bills and spending. Saving and investing are not expenses here: they come out of the surplus.

Occasional or yearly expenses

Expense	Per year
	$
	$
	$
	$

Costs that come once or a few times a year. The calculator spreads them over 12 months.

Savings rate you aim for

Used to show the income you would need to cover your expenses and still save this share of take-home pay.

Tax filing status

Only used to convert the take-home income you need into a salary before tax (US federal, 2026).

Results

Monthly surplus$1,000$5,000 income − $4,000 expenses · $12,000 a year

Total monthly income: $5,000
Total monthly expenses: $4,000
Total annual expenses: $48,000
Savings rate: 20.0%
Biggest category: 36.3%
Income needed to cover living expenses: $4,000
Income needed to also save 15%: $4,706
Salary before tax for that income: $67,719

You have $1,000 a month left after expenses, a savings rate of 20.0%. That meets your 15% goal.

Category	Per month	Per year	Share of expenses	Share of income
Take-home pay (income)	$4,600	$55,200		92.0%
Side income (income)	$400	$4,800		8.0%
Housing	$1,450	$17,400	36.3%	29.0%
Utilities	$200	$2,400	5.0%	4.0%
Groceries	$520	$6,240	13.0%	10.4%
Transportation	$350	$4,200	8.8%	7.0%
Insurance	$230	$2,760	5.8%	4.6%
Debt payments	$250	$3,000	6.3%	5.0%
Phone & internet	$110	$1,320	2.8%	2.2%
Dining & entertainment	$280	$3,360	7.0%	5.6%
Personal & clothing	$160	$1,920	4.0%	3.2%
Subscriptions	$50	$600	1.3%	1.0%
Vacation (yearly)	$200	$2,400	5.0%	4.0%
Gifts & holidays (yearly)	$100	$1,200	2.5%	2.0%
Car registration & repairs (yearly)	$75	$900	1.9%	1.5%
Memberships & renewals (yearly)	$25	$300	0.6%	0.5%
Surplus	$1,000	$12,000		20.0%

How to use the budget calculator

The calculator opens with an example budget for one person. Rename the rows, change the amounts, and add or remove rows until it matches your own month. Your last two or three bank and card statements are the best source.

Monthly income after tax. Enter what actually lands in your account each month. For a household budget, click Add income and enter a row for each earner. If your pay varies, use a cautious average of the last six to twelve months rather than your best month.
Monthly expenses. Your regular bills and spending. The example uses ten common categories; rename them freely. Enter debt payments at the amount you actually pay.
Occasional or yearly expenses. Anything that does not come every month: vacations, holiday gifts, car registration and repairs, annual subscriptions, insurance paid yearly. Enter the yearly amount and the calculator spreads it over 12 months.
Savings rate goal and filing status. These drive the “income needed” results. The filing status is used only to translate take-home pay into a salary before tax.

Saving and investing do not go in the expense rows. What is left over after expenses is what you can save, and the calculator reports it as your surplus and savings rate.

The bar chart ranks your spending from the largest category down, with yearly costs shown in a different color. The table underneath gives each row per month, per year and as a share of your expenses and income.

How the budget is calculated

Monthly expenses = Σ monthly expenses + Σ yearly expenses ÷ 12
Annual expenses = Monthly expenses × 12
Surplus = Monthly income − Monthly expenses
Savings rate = Surplus ÷ Monthly incomeAll amounts are after tax. A negative surplus is a deficit: spending is running ahead of income.

The income needed to cover your living expenses is simply your total monthly expenses. To cover them and still save a target share of income, income has to be larger:

Income needed = Monthly expenses ÷ (1 − Savings goal)With a 15% goal, every dollar of expenses needs about $1.18 of take-home pay. The salary before tax is then found by solving for the gross wage that leaves that take-home pay after US federal income tax and FICA.

A worked example

The example earns $5,000 a month after tax, from a paycheck and a small side income. Regular monthly expenses come to $3,600, and yearly costs of $4,800 add $400 a month.

Total expenses are $4,000 a month, or $48,000 a year. That leaves a surplus of $1,000 a month and a savings rate of 20.0%, above the 15% goal.

Housing is the biggest category at 36.3% of spending. To cover these living expenses alone takes $4,000 a month after tax. To cover them and save 15%, take-home pay would need to be $4,706, which is a salary of about $67,719 before federal tax for a single filer.

Monthly and annual expenses: why both matter

Most people can list their monthly bills from memory. The costs that sink a budget are the ones that do not arrive monthly. In the example they add $400 a month, which is easy to overlook because no single month shows it.

Without the yearly lines, the same budget would show a surplus of $1,400 instead of $1,000. That gap is what turns into credit card debt in December or when the car needs tires. Seeing the annual total ($48,000 in the example) is also useful on its own: it tells you what your lifestyle costs over a full year, the figure you need for retirement planning, for an emergency fund and for judging a job offer.

A practical habit is a separate “sinking fund” savings account. Each month you move the yearly-costs amount into it, and when a yearly bill arrives you pay it from there.

Personal or household budget

The calculator works the same way for one person or a family. For a household, add each earner’s take-home pay as a separate row and include every shared and personal expense.

Add a second earner and the household brings home $7,800 a month. The same expenses now leave $3,800 a month, and the savings rate rises to 48.7%.

Two incomes make a budget stronger, but they also tend to raise fixed costs: a larger home, two cars, childcare. A useful test is whether the household could cover its essential expenses on the larger income alone. If it can, losing one job is a setback rather than a crisis.

When the budget does not balance

If spending exceeds income, the calculator shows a deficit. With take-home pay of $3,800, the example budget runs a deficit of $200 a month. A deficit is always funded by something: savings shrinking, a credit card balance growing, or bills going unpaid.

The chart shows where to look first. Small categories are easy to cut but rarely close a large gap; the biggest rows, usually housing, transportation and food, are where real changes happen. Common steps are:

Recheck the big three. A cheaper lease at renewal, refinancing a car loan, or cooking more often can each move the total by hundreds of dollars.
Cancel what you do not use. Subscriptions and memberships add up because each looks small.
Spread yearly costs honestly. A budget that leaves them out looks balanced and is not.
Raise income. Overtime, a raise or side work can matter more than cutting, especially when spending is already lean.

Your living expenses and the income you need

Your monthly expenses are your cost of living: the after-tax income you need just to keep your current life running. That figure answers several questions at once. It is what an emergency fund should be built from (essential costs only), what a job offer has to beat after tax, and what retirement income has to replace.

The income needed to also save your goal adds a margin on top. Raising the goal from 15% to 20% lifts the take-home income needed from $4,706 to $5,000 a month, a salary of roughly $72,736 before tax. Because tax rises with income, each extra dollar of saving needs more than a dollar of extra salary.

What this calculator does not include

State and local income tax. The salary-before-tax figure uses US federal income tax and employee FICA for the filing status you choose, with the standard deduction and wages from one job. In a state with income tax, the salary needed is higher.
Paycheck deductions. If your 401(k) contributions or health premiums come out before your pay arrives, your real savings rate is higher than the one shown, because that saving is already gone from your take-home pay.
Irregular income. Commission, bonuses and freelance income vary; budget on the lower end and treat anything above it as a bonus to save.
Changes over time. Prices, rent and insurance rise. Review the budget at least once a year and after any big life change.

For a quick check of how your spending splits between needs, wants and savings, try the 50/30/20 budget calculator.

Frequently asked questions

How do I make a monthly budget?

List every source of take-home income, then every regular expense, then the costs that come once or twice a year divided by 12. Subtract total expenses from income to find your surplus. In the example, $5,000 of income and $4,000 of expenses leave $1,000 a month.

What is a good savings rate?

Many planners suggest saving at least 10% to 20% of take-home pay, including retirement contributions you make from your paycheck. The example saves 20.0%. A higher rate shortens the time to any goal; the right figure depends on your age, your goals and how much you already have.

How do I budget for annual expenses?

Add them up for the year and divide by 12, then set that amount aside every month, ideally in a separate savings account. In the example, yearly costs of $400 a month turn a vacation, gifts and car bills into a steady monthly line instead of a surprise.

Should I budget with gross or net income?

Use net income, the amount that reaches your bank account after taxes and payroll deductions. If retirement contributions or health insurance come out of your paycheck, they are already accounted for. The calculator converts the take-home income you need back into a salary before tax.

How do I make a household budget with a partner?

Add a row for each person's take-home pay and include every shared expense. Some couples pool everything; others split shared costs in proportion to income and keep the rest separate. The calculator works for either: it only needs the shared total.