Add your income and expenses to this monthly budget planner, and we'll show how your spending aligns with the 50/30/20 rule.
Updated Aug 15, 2024 · 1 min read Written by Lauren Schwahn Lead Writer Lauren SchwahnLauren Schwahn is a writer at NerdWallet who covers credit scoring, debt, budgeting and money-saving strategies. She has contributed to the "Millennial Money" column for The Associated Press. Her work has also been featured by USA Today, MSN, The Washington Post and more. Lauren has a bachelor’s degree in history from the University of California, Santa Cruz. She is based in San Francisco.
Assigning Editor Courtney NeidelCourtney Neidel is an assigning editor for the core personal finance team at NerdWallet. She joined NerdWallet in 2014 and spent six years writing about shopping, budgeting and money-saving strategies before being promoted to editor. Courtney has been interviewed as a retail authority by "Good Morning America," Cheddar and CBSN. Her prior experience includes freelance writing for California newspapers.
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A budget planner is a tool, such as a worksheet or template, that you can use to design your budget. A successful budget planner helps you decide how to best spend your money while avoiding or reducing debt.
NerdWallet recommends the 50/30/20 budget , which suggests that 50% of your income goes toward needs, 30% toward wants and 20% toward savings and debt repayment.
Add your income and expenses to this monthly budget planner, and we'll show how your spending aligns with the 50/30/20 rule.
If the planner above isn’t working for you, explore other budget spreadsheets and templates . Or consider one of these budget apps . Most of them sync with your financial accounts, so they can track and categorize expenses for you. Keep in mind that some budgeting apps are free, while others charge a monthly or annual fee.
If you’re looking for a more simplified snapshot, try our budget calculator . For other money matters, check out more financial calculators from NerdWallet.
If it’s the 50/30/20 income breakdown that doesn’t resonate with you, here are other budgeting systems that organize your spending in different ways:
Zero-based budget : People who overspend or are meticulous about tracking their cash flow can benefit from a zero-based budget . In this approach, you give every single dollar in your budget a purpose until you end up with zero dollars.
Envelope budge t: This system may be effective for impulse spenders who want to monitor how much they spend. With envelope budgeting , you allocate a set amount of money to each item in your budget. You then create envelopes for each category and stuff the set amount of cash in them.
Pay-yourself-first budget : Also known as reverse budgeting , pay-yourself-first budgeting involves tucking away money for things like savings and investing first. The rest of your money can then go to other priorities like bills or leisure. It can be an ideal system for people who aren’t interested in accounting for every penny.
Once you’ve chosen your budgeting system, you can move on to picking a budget planner to help break down your budget and put the numbers into perspective.
The best budget is one that’s easy to use and stick with. No matter which budget planner you decide to use, take some time to tweak your approach and adjust your spending as needed until you reach your ideal budget.
If you can’t make that budget a reality, or if you’re struggling to get a handle on your finances, budgeting might not be enough for you. Explore other options, such as seeking expert financial advice or resources that can help you pay bills .
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Lauren is a personal finance writer at NerdWallet. Her work has been featured by USA Today and The Associated Press. See full bio.
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