Finances & BudgetingFree budget tool
Split each paycheck or salary into buckets, then see which paycheck has to pay which bill. A month can add up and still leave one paycheck short. This shows you which one, and how much to hold back.
Highlights
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.
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.
Add every income you get paid from.
Fixed amounts first, then percentages. "What's left" takes the rest.
Per paycheck $825.00
Per paycheck $225.00
Per paycheck $150.00
Per paycheck $300.00
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
Salary: $1,500.00, every two weeks
Each bill goes to the latest payday before its pay-by date.
October 2026
Hold back $675.00
Salary $1,500.00
Bills $140.00 from $825.00 bills money
Keep $675.00 of this payday's bills money for the Oct 23 payday, which can't cover its bills alone. $10.00 is still free.
Short by $675.00
Salary $1,500.00
Bills $1,500.00 from $825.00 bills money
Covered by money held back from an earlier payday.
Payday planning guide
A monthly budget tells you whether your income covers your bills. It doesn't tell you whether the right paycheck arrives before each bill is due. This planner does both.
The basics
Three steps, and everything is worked out in your browser as you type.
Add each income and how often it's paid. Then divide every paycheck into buckets, such as bills, savings and spending, by percentage or fixed amount.
List your monthly bills with the day each one is due, and choose how many days early you like to pay them.
Each bill goes to the latest payday before it has to be paid. You'll see which paycheck is short, and how much to hold back from an earlier one.
Worked example
Maya is paid 10,000 on the 5th and the 20th of every month, and puts half of each paycheck in her bills bucket.
Her bills are a phone plan of 1,000 due on the 8th and rent of 8,000 due on the 1st. Over the month, 10,000 goes into bills and her bills come to 9,000. On paper she's 1,000 ahead.
But rent is due on the 1st, before her next payday on the 5th. So the paycheck on the 20th has to pay it. That paycheck brings 5,000 of bills money for an 8,000 bill, so it's 3,000 short.
The paycheck on the 5th only has the 1,000 phone bill, which leaves 4,000 spare. The planner tells her to hold back 3,000 of it for the 20th. The other 1,000 is free to spend or save.
| Payday | Bills money | Bills | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5th | 5,000 | 1,000 | Hold back 3,000 · 1,000 free |
| 20th | 5,000 | 8,000 | Short by 3,000 |
Popular splits
Not sure where to start? Load one of these into the planner, then adjust the percentages to fit your bills.
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% 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% 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%
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%
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
The same rules apply to every plan, so you can check any result by hand.
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
Answers to common questions about splitting a paycheck and planning bills by payday.
Because bills don't arrive evenly. If rent is due on the 1st and you're paid on the 5th and the 20th, the 20th payday has to cover rent, which is your biggest bill. Over the month you may have more than enough, but that one paycheck doesn't. The planner gives each bill to the payday that has to pay it, so you can see which paycheck is short and by how much.
It means keeping some of an earlier paycheck's bills money aside for a later payday that can't cover its own bills. For example, "Hold back 3,000" on the 5th means: after paying this payday's bills, don't spend 3,000 of what's left, because the 20th will need it. Anything above that is shown as still free.
Choose "On dates I choose" as how often you're paid, then add each payment you expect with its own date and amount. This works for freelance invoices, gig work, commission and side income. Months with no payment simply show no paydays for that income.
A fixed bucket, such as 200 a paycheck for savings, comes out of your first income only. Every other income is split by your percentages alone, and "What's left" gets the rest. This stops a fixed amount being taken twice when two incomes land in the same week. Put your main salary first.
If you're paid every week or every two weeks, some months have an extra payday: five weekly paychecks instead of four, or three instead of two. The planner points these months out. Your bills are already covered by the usual paydays, so the extra paycheck is a good one to send to savings or debt.
The same way as a paycheck. If you're paid a monthly salary, as in most of the UK, Europe, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa and India, choose "Once a month, same date" or "Last working day of the month". Then split it with a popular rule such as 50/30/20, or set your own percentages. With one payday a month, the main thing to check is bills due just before payday, which the planner gives to the previous month's salary.
Any currency in use today, from the US dollar, euro and pound to the Kenyan shilling, Nigerian naira, Indian rupee and Japanese yen. The planner rounds to each currency's own smallest unit, so yen and Ugandan shillings use whole amounts and Kuwaiti dinars use three decimal places. Amounts are shown in your device's language and number format.
Only in your own browser. Your plan is saved to this browser's local storage so it's still there next time, and nothing is sent to a server. If you copy a share link, the plan is written into the link itself, after a # that browsers never send to a server, so only people you give the link to can see it. If you clear your browser data or use a private window, the plan resets to the example.
Ready-made plans
The same planner with a different starting plan. Your saved plan comes with you to each one.
Related tools
Turn a photo of a bill list or payslip into rows or text. These tools also run in your browser, with nothing uploaded.