50/30/20 Budget Calculator UK
Enter your monthly take-home pay — the amount that reaches your bank after tax and payroll deductions.
Checked 6 October 2026. This budgeting framework is a planning tool, not a rule about how much every household should spend.
The 50/30/20 method divides monthly take-home pay into three broad buckets: 50% for needs, 30% for wants and 20% for savings or other financial goals. It is useful because it makes a complicated budget easy to see — but real life does not always fit those percentages.
How to use the calculator
Enter the amount that actually reaches your bank account each month after Income Tax, National Insurance and any other payroll deductions that apply to you. The calculator then shows a starting split of 50%, 30% and 20%.
For example, £2,500 monthly take-home pay gives £1,250 for needs, £750 for wants and £500 for savings and financial goals.
What belongs in each bucket?
Needs can include housing, essential utilities, basic groceries, essential transport, insurance and minimum required debt payments. Wants are discretionary choices such as some entertainment, eating out, upgrades, hobbies and non-essential shopping. Savings and goals can include emergency savings, additional debt repayment and longer-term saving or investing goals appropriate to you.
Not sure where something belongs? See our 50/30/20 categories UK guide.
What if 50/30/20 does not fit?
Do not skip rent, food, heating or other essentials merely to make a percentage look correct. High housing, energy, childcare or transport costs can push needs well above 50%. Read is the 50/30/20 rule realistic in the UK? for ways to adapt the framework.
Using salary rather than take-home pay
If you only know your gross annual salary, do not simply divide it by 12 and apply 50/30/20. Income Tax, National Insurance, pension contributions, student-loan repayments and other deductions can change take-home pay. Our 50/30/20 UK salary guide explains the difference using 2026/27 examples.
50/30/20 or a detailed budget?
The percentage method is intentionally simple. If you want every pound assigned before the month begins, compare it with zero-based budgeting.
Our money makeover gives broader next steps, while the £1,000 buffer guide covers a first savings target.
MoneySavvyUK principle: use the calculator to understand your money, then adapt it to your life.