Fri, Oct 9
Covered · $1,040.00 spare
Salary $1,800.00
Bills $400.00 from $1,440.00 bills money
- Insurancedue Oct 20 · pay by Oct 18$120.00
- Car paymentdue Oct 22 · pay by Oct 20$280.00
Finances & BudgetingFree budget tool
80/20 Budget Calculator
Move 20% of each paycheck to savings the day you're paid, then pay bills and live on the other 80%. No categories to track. Add your bills to check the 80% covers each one before it's due.
Highlights
- 20% savings first
- 80% for everything else
- No categories to track
- Adjust any percentage
How to plan bills by paycheck
This planner splits every paycheck (or monthly salary) into buckets, such as bills, savings and spending. Then it gives each bill to the payday that has to pay it.
If a later paycheck can't cover its bills, it tells you how much to keep back from an earlier one. It works with any pay schedule, more than one income, and every currency in use around the world.
What you'll see
- Your split — how one paycheck divides into your buckets.
- Every payday this month — its bills, its bills money, and whether it's covered.
- Hold-back amounts — what to keep from one paycheck for a later one that falls short.
- Month notes — a bills bucket that's too small, money to carry in, and extra paydays.
The example below is already filled in. Change the income in Step 1, the buckets in Step 2 and the bills in Step 3. The results in Step 4 update as you type.
ExampleExample figures loaded. Change anything.
Step 1 of 4 Done
Your income
Add every income you get paid from.
Step 2 of 4 Done
Buckets
Fixed amounts first, then percentages. "What's left" takes the rest.
Per paycheck $360.00
Per paycheck $1,440.00
Quick start · Popular splits
Step 3 of 4 Done
Bills
Monthly bills and the day they're due.
Paying ahead
A buffer for slow transfers. A bill due just after a payday is paid from the paycheck before it.
Your split
One paycheck, split
Salary: $1,800.00, every two weeks
- Savings20%$360.00
- Everything else80%$1,440.00
Step 4 of 4 Done
Paycheck by paycheck
Each bill goes to the latest payday before its pay-by date.
October 2026
- Paydays
- 2
- Bills per month
- $1,760.00
- Bills money this month
- $2,880.00
Fri, Oct 23
Covered · $140.00 spare
Salary $1,800.00
Bills $1,300.00 from $1,440.00 bills money
- Rentdue Nov 1 · pay by Oct 30$1,300.00
80/20 budgeting guide
The 80/20 budget: pay yourself first
The 80/20 budget has one rule: 20% of each paycheck goes to savings the day it lands. Bills and spending share the other 80%, with no categories to track. This calculator applies it to each paycheck and checks the 80% covers every bill before it's due.
Want separate needs and wants buckets, or several incomes? Use the paycheck split calculator.
How it works
Two buckets, one habit
Saving first means the month's spending can never use the savings money.
- Savings · 20%Moved out on payday, ideally by an automatic transfer. Emergency fund first, then retirement and other goals.
- Everything else · 80%Rent, bills, groceries, transport and fun. No limits inside it, as long as the bills are paid.
- Choose 80/20 if…You've tried tracking categories and given up, or your spending is steady and you mainly want to save.
- The planner's bills bucketBills are paid from Everything else, so each paycheck is checked against the bills due before the next one.
Worked example
Save 360 first, then pay rent from the rest
The example in the calculator: 1,800 every two weeks, split 80/20, with rent of 1,300.
Each paycheck sends 360 to savings and leaves 1,440 for everything else. The bills are rent of 1,300 due on the 1st, a 280 car payment on the 22nd, insurance of 120 on the 20th and a phone plan. They come to 1,760 a month, and a typical month brings about 3,120 to spend.
The October 9 paycheck pays insurance and the car payment, leaving 1,040. The October 23 paycheck pays November's rent and has only 140 left.
Both paychecks cover their bills, but not evenly. Most of the next two weeks' groceries and spending has to come from the 9th, so spend it with the 23rd in mind.
| Payday | Everything else | Bills | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| Oct 9 | 1,440 | 400 | Covered · 1,040 free |
| Oct 23 | 1,440 | 1,300 | Covered · 140 free |
Quick reference
80/20 at a glance
How common take-home amounts divide when you pay yourself first.
| Take-home pay | Savings (20%) | Everything else (80%) |
|---|---|---|
| 1,000 | 200 | 800 |
| 1,500 | 300 | 1,200 |
| 2,000 | 400 | 1,600 |
| 3,000 | 600 | 2,400 |
| 4,000 | 800 | 3,200 |
Works for any currency, per paycheck or per month.
Popular splits
Compare the popular splits
Not sure where to start? Load one of these into the planner, then adjust the percentages to fit your bills.
50/30/20
Half of each paycheck for needs such as rent, bills and food, 30% for wants, and 20% for savings and paying off debt. The most widely used starting point.
Needs 50% · Wants 30% · Savings & debt 20%
70/20/10
70% for living costs, 20% for savings and 10% for debt or giving. Suits higher-cost cities, where needs alone take more than half.
Living costs 70% · Savings 20% · Debt or giving 10%
60/20/20
60% for needs, 20% for savings and 20% for wants. A middle ground when 50% for needs is too tight.
Needs 60% · Savings 20% · Wants 20%
80/20 (pay yourself first)
Move 20% to savings the day you're paid, then pay bills and live on the other 80%. The simplest split to stick to.
Savings 20% · Everything else 80%
How a 2,000 paycheck splits
The same for any currency: 2,000 dollars, pounds, euros or rand.
| Split | Each bucket gets |
|---|---|
| 50/30/20 | Needs 1,000 · Wants 600 · Savings & debt 400 |
| 70/20/10 | Living costs 1,400 · Savings 400 · Debt or giving 200 |
| 60/20/20 | Needs 1,200 · Savings 400 · Wants 400 |
| 80/20 (pay yourself first) | Savings 400 · Everything else 1,600 |
Method
How the numbers are worked out
The same rules apply to every plan, so you can check any result by hand.
- Splitting a paycheckFixed amounts come out first (from your first income only), then each percentage of the payment. "What's left" gets the rest, never less than zero.
- Which payday pays a billEach bill goes to the latest payday on or before its pay-by date: the due date, minus the days early you choose.
- Hold-backsWorking back from the last payday of the month, any shortfall is covered from spare bills money on earlier paydays. Anything left over is shown as free.
- Rounding and datesAmounts are worked out in whole cents (or your currency's smallest unit), and dates are calendar days, so time zones never move a payday.
This is a planning tool, not financial advice. It uses the take-home figures you enter and doesn't work out tax. Last reviewed .
Common questions
80/20 budget FAQ
Common questions about the 80/20 pay-yourself-first budget.
What is the 80/20 budget?
A pay-yourself-first budget: move 20% of each paycheck to savings the day it arrives, then pay bills and spend from the other 80%. There are no needs and wants categories to track. As long as the 20% leaves first, the rest is yours to manage.
What does "pay yourself first" mean?
Treating savings like a bill that's due on payday. Instead of saving whatever is left at the end of the month, which is often nothing, you move it out first and live on the rest. Setting up an automatic transfer for payday makes it stick.
Is 80/20 better than 50/30/20?
Both save 20%. 50/30/20 also caps needs at half your pay and wants at 30%, which helps if spending creeps up. 80/20 skips those limits, so it's simpler, but you need to check yourself that bills fit in the 80%. The planner does that check for every paycheck.
Where should the 20% go?
Build an emergency fund first, then retirement savings and other goals. Paying extra off high-interest debt also counts. If your employer already takes pension or retirement contributions from your pay, you can count those toward the 20%.
Can I save more than 20%?
Yes. Change the savings bucket in Step 2, for example to 25% or 30%, and the "Everything else" bucket shrinks to match. Then check that every payday still covers its bills. If one comes up short, the planner tells you how much to hold back from the paycheck before it.
Ready-made plans
Plan by the way you're paid
The same planner with a different starting plan. Your saved plan comes with you to each one.
- Paycheck Split CalculatorAny pay schedule and any split. Start here if you're not sure which page fits.
- 50/30/20 Budget CalculatorHalf for needs, 30% for wants, 20% for savings and debt.
- 70/20/10 Budget CalculatorFor high-rent cities: 70% living costs, 20% savings, 10% debt or giving.
- 60/20/20 Budget CalculatorWhen 50% for needs is too tight: 60% needs, 20% savings, 20% wants.
- Biweekly Budget PlannerPaid every two weeks: which paycheck pays rent, and the months with three paychecks.
- Salary Split CalculatorPaid once a month: split your salary and cover the bills due before payday.
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