Budget builder: find your surplus

How this calculator works

This calculator adds your monthly take-home income and any other income, then adds your spending across ten categories: housing, utilities, food, transportation, insurance, debt payments, childcare, subscriptions, entertainment and everything else. Your surplus is income minus spending. Your savings rate is that surplus divided by total income. It also shows the yearly surplus and housing as a share of income, with a plain-English read on where you stand.

Assumptions: every figure is monthly and entered by you. Bills that come once or twice a year, such as insurance premiums, car registration or holiday gifts, should be divided by 12 and added in. The tool uses take-home income, so taxes withheld from your paycheck are already out. The surplus is money you could save; the tool does not track where your money actually goes.

How this affects buying a home: a steady surplus builds your down payment, closing cost funds and reserves. When you apply, a lender reviews recent bank statements, and large deposits that are not from your pay may need to be explained. Lenders also count your debt payments against your gross income to find your debt-to-income ratio. A budget that already includes your future housing payment, plus repairs and upkeep, shows whether the payment works for you day to day.

Example: enter $5,000 of take-home income and your current spending in each category. Then replace your rent with the full housing cost you are considering to see the new surplus.

Related: 50/30/20 budget splitter · Emergency fund calculator · Down payment goal planner