50/30/20 budget calculator
A simple starting budget: 50% of take-home pay for needs, 30% for wants, and 20% for savings and extra debt payments.
Don't know your take-home pay? Use the take-home pay calculator.
What counts as a need?
Needs (50%): rent or mortgage, council tax, energy, water, basic food, insurance, travel to work, minimum debt payments, childcare. Wants (30%): eating out, takeaways, streaming, hobbies, holidays, clothes beyond the basics. Savings and debt (20%): emergency fund, sinking funds, pension top-ups, and overpaying debts.
When 50/30/20 doesn't fit
With UK rents, many people's needs are 60–70% of take-home pay, especially in London and the South East. That's normal. Try 70/20/10 as a starting point, and push the savings share up when your pay rises or a debt is cleared. The point is to give every pound a job, not to hit an exact ratio.
Have debts? The debt payoff calculator shows what an extra £50 or £100 a month does to your debt-free date.
See every bill as one monthly number, and stop direct-debit surprises.
A Google Sheets and Excel planner that turns every bill into a monthly cost, and covers council tax, energy readings, a monthly budget and a savings goal.
Get it for £7 →Get a real debt-free date, and see how much interest each plan saves.
Up to 10 debts, snowball or avalanche, a debt-free date, interest totals and a month-by-month plan, in Google Sheets and Excel.
Get it for £5 →FAQs
Is 50/30/20 realistic in the UK?
It's a starting point. If housing and bills already take more than half your pay, use 60/30/10 or 70/20/10 and adjust over time.
Does the 20% include pension contributions?
The 50/30/20 split uses take-home pay, so workplace pension contributions deducted before payday aren't included. Anything extra you choose to save does count towards the 20%.
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