Budget builder.
Your personalized starting point.
Enter cash income and all household expenses, including variable and irregular essentials. Compare the result with optional planning targets. Do not cut essential spending or miss minimum payments to meet a preset savings percentage.
The question it answersHow should I allocate my paycheck across spending categories?
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This tool uses illustrative targets of 28% for housing and 15% for savings from entered cash income. They are not loan-approval rules or requirements.
$4,200 monthly take-home. Housing $1,400 (33%, target under 28%). Transport $600 (14%, on target). Food $500 (12%, on target). Savings $300 (7%, target 15%+). Everything else $1,400 (33%). Adjustment: $330/month from discretionary to savings reaches the 15% savings target.
Targets and methodology
- Housing target under 28% of take-home (the conservative variant of the 28/36 rule).
- Transport target under 15% (car payment + gas combined).
- Food target under 12% (groceries + dining out).
- The 15% target here concerns saving from entered cash income. Payroll retirement contributions already deducted from take-home are outside both sides of this cash budget; do not count them twice.
- The percentages are guidelines, not laws. Local cost structure (high-cost coastal cities) often pushes housing higher; that means the savings rate is harder to hit and warrants harder choices.
Where to go from here
Calculators are educational estimates, not financial advice. Disclosures · How pages are reviewed