Monthly Budget Calculator

Build a monthly what-if budget from your actual spending categories. Include planned savings as an allocation to see how much of your take-home income remains.

Enter your values to see an estimate. Enter 0 for amounts that do not apply.

How this calculator works

Add housing, debt payments, food and utilities, transport, planned savings, and other spending. Subtract total allocations from take-home monthly income. A negative result is a shortfall, not zero.

Worked example

With monthly take-home income of 5,000 and allocations totaling 4,500, the remaining amount is 500. Allocations of 5,500 instead produce a shortfall of 500.

Assumptions and limits

This is a cash-flow allocation estimate, not a required spending ratio. Do not count the same expense in multiple categories. Annual expenses need to be divided into monthly amounts. No account data is imported.

How to choose your inputs

Use take-home income available in a typical month and group actual payments once each. Convert recurring annual expenses to monthly allocations and include planned saving as a use of income. If card purchases are already assigned to spending categories, avoid also counting the same purchases as a separate debt payment; distinguish repayment of earlier balances.

How to interpret your result

A shortfall means the entered allocations exceed income; it is not corrected by changing category names. Review which items are flexible and which dates or amounts are fixed, then rerun a specific change. A monthly surplus does not prove bills can be paid on their due dates, particularly when income arrives irregularly.

Primary references

CFPB: Spending tracker

This educational estimate uses your inputs. It is not individualized financial, tax, insurance, or investment advice, a lender offer, approval decision, or a promise of future results.

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