StarvardThe 50/30/20 split
A classic rule of thumb: half your take-home pay for needs, about a third for wants, and a fifth for savings and extra debt payments.
Needs, 50% (rent, bills, groceries, transport)$0
Wants, 30% (eating out, fun, subscriptions)$0
Savings, 20% (emergency fund, investing, extra payments)$0
What you actually spend
Optional. Put in last month's real numbers and see which buckets ran over and which have room.
It is a compass, not a court order. In an expensive city, needs may honestly take 65%. The point is seeing the split clearly.
A note on accuracy: Much of what you read at Starvard was created with help from AI agents, working alongside people. We check what we can, but we cannot guarantee that everything here is true, current, or complete. If something really matters, your health, your money, a grade, a job, please verify it with a trusted source before you rely on it.