Budget & Net Worth Calculator
Every dollar, in its lane. Draft the plan on the Calculator, face reality in My As-Is, and Compare where they diverge.
About the 50/30/20 rule
Comes from Elizabeth Warren and Amelia Warren Tyagi’s 2005 book All Your Worth — a general guideline for moderate, steady incomes, not a formula tuned to your specific numbers. On a lower income or in a high cost-of-living area, needs can reasonably run well past 50%. At higher incomes, the opposite shows up — 30% for wants is often more than needed, and the surplus is usually better directed to savings. Treat the targets as a compass, not a rule. If rent alone consumes your needs allowance, this walks through what to do instead.
Categories are matched by name. One that exists in only a single scenario is marked new or dropped.
Every dollar in its lane
A budget only works if it reflects your real numbers. This budget calculator sorts your spending into needs, wants, and savings and measures it against the 50/30/20 rule, while tracking your net worth — what you own minus what you owe — in the same place.
The 50/30/20 frame
Roughly half your take-home for needs, a third for wants, and a fifth for saving and debt payoff. The bars show how your actual split compares, so you can see the gap at a glance instead of guessing.
Most of it fills itself in
Your take-home comes from Income, housing from Mortgage, debts from the Debt calculator, and your emergency-fund target from Savings — so the budget reflects your whole picture without re-typing.
Savings rate and net worth
Your savings rate counts everything you set aside — 401(k), emergency fund, and brokerage — and your net worth ties your assets and debts into one number to grow over time.
Track the trend, not just the month
One month tells you little; the direction tells you everything. Watching your savings rate and net worth move over time turns budgeting from a chore into a scoreboard — and the savings rate, more than any single expense, is the number that decides how fast your net worth grows.
Two numbers, not one
Net worth records where you stand; monthly surplus records which way you are moving. Net worth versus cash flow shows how two households with identical net worth can be on very different paths.
Frequently asked questions
What is the 50/30/20 budget?
How do I calculate net worth?
What is a good savings rate?
Why are some budget lines already filled in?
How do I tell needs from wants?
How can I improve my budget?
Useful on its own. Powerful together.
This calculator works on its own — but it shares your numbers with eight more. Together, they become a command center for your whole financial picture.