How to use this budget planner
Start with your monthly take-home pay — the amount that actually lands in your account after tax and National Insurance, not your headline salary. Then fill in your typical monthly costs in each category. As you type, the planner adds everything up, shows what’s left over, and breaks your spending down so you can see which categories are eating the most.
What the 50/30/20 breakdown means
The planner compares your spending to the 50/30/20 budgeting rule: roughly 50% of take-home pay on needs, 30% on wants, and 20% on savings and extra debt repayments. It’s a starting point rather than a strict target — in much of the UK, housing alone can push the “needs” share well past 50%, and that’s a fact about the housing market, not a personal failing.
Making a budget that actually sticks
If you’re building your first budget, it helps to pair this planner with a method. Our guides on zero-based budgeting (giving every pound a job) and budgeting on an irregular income cover two popular approaches. For costs that don’t fall evenly each month — Christmas, an annual insurance renewal, a car MOT — see sinking funds.