Budget & income
A budget planner for the January money check-in
A budget planner calculator: households enter monthly take-home pay, housing, transportation, food and everything else to see the surplus or deficit, savings rate and housing share.
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How do I make a simple monthly budget?
Start with monthly take-home pay, subtract the big categories (housing, transportation and food) and then everything else. What's left is the monthly surplus or deficit; dividing it by income gives a savings rate. Housing above roughly a third of take-home pay is a common sign the budget is under strain.
January
New year, new resolutions, and holiday bills arriving. Households want a quick picture of where money goes and whether they're saving anything.
What the client types into a search box
“how do I make a budget”
How a client works through it
Enter take-home pay
Monthly net income.
Enter the big costs
Housing, transportation and food.
Enter everything else
All other monthly spending.
See the result
Surplus or deficit, savings rate and housing share.
What lands in your inbox
When a client asks your firm to review the result, the request arrives as a contact record with their inputs and results attached, by email and, on paid plans, by webhook to your CRM.
Received
Income and spending categories show household finances. A deficit suggests debt or cash flow planning; a large surplus suggests savings and investment opportunities.
Surplus, savings rate and housing share
Monthly Surplus / Deficit and Annual Surplus / Deficit show the bottom line. Savings Rate expresses the surplus as a share of income. Housing % of Income flags the biggest pressure point.
A budget is a plan; tracking actual spending refines it.
Results shown: Monthly Surplus / Deficit · Total Expenses · Savings Rate · Annual Surplus / Deficit · Housing % of Income.
Why a budget tool belongs on a firm's site
Budgeting is the foundation of every plan, and a firm that helps with the basics earns trust for bigger decisions. It's also good newsletter content in January.
Planners can use requests to start cash flow planning; CPAs can connect budgets to withholding and estimated payments.
Follow-ups this request opens
- Build a savings plan from the surplus
- Address a deficit with a cash flow plan
- Adjust withholding to smooth cash flow
- Set up an emergency fund
What this calculator leaves out
- Five broad categories only.
- Irregular expenses must be averaged.
- No debt payoff modeling.
- Net income must be entered.
Platform disclaimer shown under the calculator: Estimates only. A budget is a plan — track actual spending to refine it.
Compliance note for firms
Budgeting tools are educational; if your firm offers debt or credit advice, check any state licensing requirements before advertising it alongside the calculator.
Not legal advice. See our disclaimer and the guide to compliance for client calculators.
Terms your client sees in the calculator
These definitions appear in the calculator's collapsible Definitions block, so clients don't have to call to ask what a label means.
- Monthly net income
- Take-home pay: what reaches your bank account each month after taxes, retirement contributions, insurance premiums and other payroll deductions. Budgets work from net income because that is the money actually available to spend. If your pay varies, using a conservative monthly average keeps the surplus figure in this calculator realistic.
- Surplus / deficit
- Monthly net income minus total expenses. A positive result is a surplus, money left over for savings, investing or paying down debt; a negative result is a deficit, meaning spending exceeds income and the gap is covered by savings or borrowing. The annual figure in this calculator is simply the monthly result times 12.
- Savings rate
- The monthly surplus as a percentage of net income. A $600 surplus on $6,000 of take-home pay is a 10% savings rate. Because this calculator uses net income, the figure does not include retirement contributions already taken out of your paycheck, so your total savings rate may be higher than shown.
- Total expenses
- The sum of all spending categories entered: housing, transportation, food and everything else. It should include irregular costs, such as annual insurance premiums or car repairs, converted to a monthly amount. Leaving those out is the most common reason a budget shows a surplus that never appears in the bank account.
- Housing cost
- Rent or mortgage payment plus the costs of keeping the home running: utilities, property taxes, insurance, HOA dues and routine repairs. For most households it is the largest budget line. This calculator shows it as a share of net income, which is a quick check on whether housing is crowding out other goals.
- Housing % of income
- Monthly housing costs divided by monthly net income. Lenders measure housing against gross income when qualifying a mortgage, so this take-home-based percentage will read higher than a lender’s figure for the same household. It is a planning measure here, not an approval test.
Budget Planner calculator: questions from firms and clients
What should housing cost?
Often no more than about a third of take-home pay.
Should I use gross or net income?
Net (take-home) income.
What about irregular bills?
Average them monthly.
What's a good savings rate?
Higher is better; many aim for 15% or more for retirement alone.
Does it include debt?
Include payments in everything else.
Can couples use it?
Yes, with combined figures.
How often should I budget?
Review monthly.
Which plan includes it?
Firm and Network. See pricing.
No question matches that filter. Clear it to see them all, search the whole site, or ask us directly; we reply within one business day.
Next entry
Answer the January question before the client calls
Embed the Budget Planner calculator on your firm's site in an afternoon and receive requests with the numbers already filled in.
Firm and Network plans include a 14-day trial. Cancel before it ends and you pay nothing.