Monthly budget calculator that names your budget busters.
Type in what you earn and roughly what you spend. We'll show what's left over, flag the categories eating more than their fair share, and point you at tools that fix them. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.
Your numbers
Monthly, after tax. Estimates are fine.
Rent or mortgage, hydro, water, internet
Supermarket, takeout, coffee, delivery apps
Car payment, gas, insurance, transit, rideshare
Streaming, apps, gym, cloud storage
Credit cards, loans, buy-now-pay-later
Clothes, gadgets, nights out, hobbies
Phone, childcare, pets, healthcare, gifts
Healthy guidelines
These percentages decide what counts as a budget buster. Pick a lifestyle, or drag any slider to match your own goals.
Your monthly snapshot
Enter your income and at least one spending category to see your results.
How to build your monthly budget
- 1
Enter your monthly take-home income
Use the amount that lands in your account after tax and deductions. Estimates are fine — accuracy within about 5% is enough for the results to be useful.
- 2
Fill in what you spend by category
Add rough monthly figures for housing, food, transport, subscriptions, debt, shopping, and everything else. Check the last two or three bank statements if you're unsure.
- 3
Adjust the healthy guidelines to your situation
Pick a lifestyle preset or drag each category's slider to set the percentage of income you consider healthy for it. High-cost-of-living areas need a bigger housing share; debt payoff mode allows more toward debt.
- 4
Fix your top budget busters
Review the three categories furthest above their guideline, the annual cost of each overage, and the suggested fix, then use the recommended tools to automate the change.
Budget calculator FAQs
How much of my income should go to rent or housing?
A common rule of thumb is up to 30% of take-home pay on housing and utilities combined. In expensive cities 35-40% is often unavoidable, which means other categories — transport, subscriptions, eating out — have to be tighter to compensate. You can raise or lower the housing threshold in the calculator's guideline settings to match your city.
What is a good savings rate?
Keeping 20% or more of your take-home pay is genuinely strong. 10-20% is solid progress. Under 10% means a single surprise bill can knock you off track, so building a small emergency buffer usually matters more than investing at that stage.
What counts as a budget buster?
A budget buster is any category taking more of your income than its healthy guideline. The calculator ranks the three categories furthest above their thresholds by dollar amount, because those are where cuts free up the most cash fastest — not necessarily where you feel the most guilt.
Can I change the healthy percentage guidelines?
Yes. Every category has an adjustable slider, plus one-click lifestyle presets — Balanced (50/30/20 style), High cost of living, Aggressive saver, and Debt payoff — that reset all thresholds at once. Your busters and tool recommendations recalculate instantly.
Is my data saved or sent anywhere?
No. The calculator runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you type is stored, transmitted, or shared, and no signup is required to use it.
Should I budget with after-tax or before-tax income?
Always use take-home pay — the amount that actually lands in your account after tax and payroll deductions. Budgeting on gross income consistently overstates what you can spend.
What should I do if I'm spending more than I earn?
Start with the largest dollar overage rather than the largest percentage. Cancel unused subscriptions first (fastest win), then attack the highest-APR debt, then look at transport and food. Housing is usually the biggest line but the slowest to change.
Want help sticking to it? One email a week.
Practical budgeting tips, tool reviews, and plain-English money guides for beginners.
This calculator is educational and uses common rule-of-thumb guidelines. It is not financial advice — see our financial disclaimer.