What counts as a need?

Anything you would still be paying if your income stopped tomorrow: housing, utilities, groceries, insurance, transport to work, minimum debt payments. The test is whether you can stop it this month, not whether it feels essential.

Should the emergency fund be based on income or spending?

Spending, and specifically essential spending. What has to be covered when income stops is the rent and the groceries, not the salary.

Budget Calculator

Your month against the 50/30/20 benchmark, with what is actually left at the bottom.

Left over each month

$160.00

$4,200.00 in, $4,040.00 allocated. This is the money with no job yet, which is the only part you can decide anything about.

Biggest single line

Rent or mortgage

$2,100.00

Housing

50%

Of take-home pay

Three month emergency fund

$9,600

Covers 3 months of essentials

Your split against the benchmark

Needs$3,200.00 · 76% against 50%

You$3,200
Benchmark$2,100

Wants$440.00 · 10% against 30%

You$440
Benchmark$1,260

Saving and extra debt payments$400.00 · 10% against 20%

You$400
Benchmark$840

50/30/20 is a benchmark, not a rule. It was popularised in a country and a decade with different housing costs, and in most Canadian cities rent alone takes more than half of take-home. If your needs are above 50%, that is information about where you live, not a verdict on how you spend.

What this does

Enter what lands in your account and where it goes. This totals each category, compares it with the common benchmark, and puts the surplus or the shortfall at the bottom where you cannot miss it.

Why this one

It treats 50/30/20 as a benchmark rather than a target. In most Canadian cities rent alone takes more than half of take-home, and a tool that responds to that by telling you to spend less on needs is not being useful. This shows you the gap and names the largest line, and leaves the judgement to you.

The formula

benchmark:  needs 50%,  wants 30%,  saving and extra debt payments 20%  of take-home
left over  =  take-home  -  everything allocated
emergency fund  =  essential monthly spending x 3 to 6 months

Published so you can check it. A calculator about money that will not show its working is asking to be trusted on the one thing you cannot verify.

Questions

Is 50/30/20 a rule?: No. It is a benchmark that gives you something to compare against. It was popularised in a country and a decade with different housing costs, and treating it as a target in a city where rent is 45% of take-home produces advice nobody can follow.
What counts as a need?: Anything you would still be paying if your income stopped tomorrow: housing, utilities, groceries, insurance, transport to work, minimum debt payments. The test is whether you can stop it this month, not whether it feels essential.
Should the emergency fund be based on income or spending?: Spending, and specifically essential spending. What has to be covered when income stops is the rent and the groceries, not the salary.

Your data

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Take it with you

The same calculator as a file you keep. Unzip it, open index.html, and it works with no internet connection at all. Free, and yours to pass on.

Download, 13 KB

Goes further

This answers one question. If you want the whole picture rather than one number, there is a product for that.

See it

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All eight

This tool is for education and planning only and does not constitute financial, legal or tax advice. EmpireSheets is not a regulated adviser. Rates, rules and thresholds change, so check anything time sensitive against a current official source before acting on it.