Household Budget Calculator
Split your take-home pay into budget containers — the popular 60/10/10/20 container method or the 50/30/20 rule — with each container's dollar target next to what you actually spend, plus a suggested emergency fund. Private to your browser.
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Before you rely on this: Estimates only — not financial, tax or legal advice. Confirm current rates, fees and rules before relying on these figures.
How to use this calculator
- Enter your take-home (after-tax) pay and choose how often you're paid — weekly, fortnightly, monthly or yearly.
- Pick a method: Containers (60/10/10/20), the 50/30/20 rule, or Custom, and adjust any percentage to suit you.
- Add your real expenses as line items (rent, bills, groceries…) with how often each is paid and which container it belongs to — they roll up so you can see each container's spend vs its target, your leftover and a suggested emergency fund.
- Your budget auto-saves in this browser. Export a backup file, import it back, or Print / PDF a clean summary.
How it works
Your pay is first converted to a monthly figure (weekly × 52 ÷ 12, fortnightly × 26 ÷ 12, yearly ÷ 12). Each container's target is simply that monthly income times the container's percentage, and it's also shown back at your pay cycle.
What each container is for. Everyday expenses (60%) covers your essentials — rent or mortgage, bills, food and transport. Fun money (10%) is guilt-free spending you don't have to feel bad about. Savings goals (10%) is for bigger wants like a holiday or a new laptop. Debt & savings (20%) goes to clearing debt and building a buffer. The 50/30/20 rule is the same idea with three containers: Needs (50%), Wants (30%) and Savings & debt (20%). Every percentage is editable, so it's your budget, not a rule.
If you enter your actual spending, each container shows the difference from its target (over in red, under in green). The suggested emergency fund is three months of your essentials (Everyday expenses or Needs) — a common starting safety net.
Worked example
Worked example. On $3,000 a fortnight (= $6,500 a month) using the container method: Everyday expenses gets 60% = $3,900/month, Fun money and Savings goals $650 each, and Debt & savings $1,300. Three months of Everyday expenses (~$11,700) is a sensible emergency-fund target.
Common mistakes
- Budgeting from gross pay — use your take-home (after-tax) amount, since that's what actually lands in your account.
- Letting the percentages drift from 100% — the tool flags the total so you can rebalance.
- Treating the split as a rule rather than a start — adjust the percentages to your real life; high rent, for example, pushes Everyday expenses well above 60%.
Frequently asked questions
What is container budgeting?
You split your take-home pay into a few containers by percentage — Everyday expenses, Fun money, Savings goals, and Debt & savings — at a 60/10/10/20 starting split you can adjust. It's a general, widely-used budgeting approach; this calculator isn't affiliated with any book or brand.
What is the 50/30/20 rule?
A simple budgeting guideline: about 50% of take-home pay to needs (housing, bills, food, transport), 30% to wants, and 20% to savings and paying down debt. It's a starting point — tune the percentages to your situation.
Is my budget private?
Yes. Everything is calculated and stored only in your browser — there's no account and nothing is uploaded. Clearing your browser data will clear the saved budget.
Is this financial advice?
No — it's a free budgeting aid to help you plan. For advice about your own circumstances, speak to a licensed financial adviser.
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Cite this tool
Zerdly. (2026). Household Budget Calculator. Retrieved from https://www.zerdly.com/tools/household-budget-calculator/
Tip: Enter any known values to calculate the remaining results.
Designed to run locally in your browser. Tool inputs are not intentionally stored by Zerdly unless stated otherwise.