50/30/20 Budget & Emergency Fund Calculator

💵 Your Income

Take-Home Pay $ · after taxes

How Often You're Paid

Used to show each bucket per paycheck.

Target Ratio (Needs / Wants / Savings)

Savings Already Taken From Your Paycheck $/month

Health Insurance Taken From Your Paycheck $/month

Needs (50%)

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Wants (30%)

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Savings & Debt (20%)

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💰 Where Your Money Should Go

Target

Needs

Wants

Savings & Debt

📖 What these numbers mean

🏠

Needs: required costs — housing, utilities, groceries, transportation, insurance and minimum debt payments.

🎉

Wants: costs you could cut — dining out, entertainment, shopping, subscriptions, travel.

🌱

Savings & Debt: emergency fund, retirement, investing and debt payments above the minimum.

Tap ƒ to see the formula.

Budget Breakdown

* The 50/30/20 rule applies to after-tax income. Following the original method (Warren & Tyagi, All Your Worth), paycheck deductions entered under "Change ratio or add paycheck deductions" are added back: retirement/HSA contributions count as Savings, health insurance premiums count as Needs.

* Status labels allow a small margin (1% of income) so a few dollars over target isn't flagged.

🧾 Your Essentials

Essential Monthly Expenses $

🧭 Months of Essential Expenses

Common guideline: 3–6 months of essential expenses.

🏦 Your Savings Plan

Already Saved for Emergencies $

Monthly Amount You'll Add $

Savings Account Interest % APY

💡 Why it matters

An emergency fund covers a job loss, medical bill or car repair without a credit card — so one bad month doesn't turn into years of high-interest debt.

Keep it in a separate, easy-to-reach savings account. It's insurance, not an investment.

Emergency Fund Target

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Still Needed

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Time to Reach Goal

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Months You're Covered Today

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Interest Earned Along the Way

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Share of Take-Home Pay

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🛟 Progress Toward Your Goal

Your Emergency Fund Over Time

Balance month by month with your contributions and interest.

Fund balance

Goal

Milestones

Tap ƒ to see the formula.

Milestones

Milestone	Amount	When

What If You Saved More?

Monthly contribution	Time to goal	Reached by	Faster by

Step 3 of 3 · Sheet3. In the same file as Sheet1 (split) and Sheet2 (compare), open Sheet3, click cell A1 once (don’t double-click), then press Ctrl + V (Cmd + V on Mac). It reads the Needs total and Emergency Fund line from Sheet2, and the Savings target and take-home pay from Sheet1 — keep the default sheet names. If a sheet is missing, the amounts typed here are used. Every cell keeps its formula.

* Interest is compounded monthly at the APY entered and may be taxable. Dates are estimates starting next month.

💰 50/30/20 Budget & Emergency Fund Calculator

📖 What these numbers mean

A budget is the foundation for everything else.