Free UK tool · Monthly budget calculator UK
Build a monthly budget using proven frameworks — 50/30/20, 60/30/10, Pay Yourself First, FIRE Mode, or a blank zero-based plan. Free, private, no sign up — none of the figures you enter ever leave your device.
Your data never leaves your device. Ever.How to use
The free UK budget planner above is a single expanded form — every section is visible at once so you can scan and edit freely. Plans are saved on your device; come back any time to edit, duplicate, or delete them.
For Pay Yourself First, the savings line is flagged with a "this comes out first" badge. The order on screen stays the same — but psychologically, you're treating the savings number as untouchable before everything else gets allocated.
Understanding budgeting frameworks
There's no single right answer — different frameworks suit different people. Here's a plain-English summary of the main options inside the planner.
Allocate 50% of take-home to needs, 30% to wants, 20% to savings or debt repayment. Popularised by US senator Elizabeth Warren and broadly applicable to most UK earners outside very high-cost areas. It's a good starting point because it forces a healthy savings rate without being restrictive about lifestyle. If you can't make the maths work in your area, swap to 60/30/10.
A more realistic split if you live in London, the South East, or another area where rent and council tax push needs above 50% of post-tax income. Drops the savings target to 10% so the plan is achievable. Better than abandoning budgeting altogether because the percentages don't fit.
Your savings come out the moment your salary lands — typically via a standing order on payday — before anything else is allocated. Whatever remains is yours to spend freely. The framework still uses 50/30/20 splits underneath, but the order shifts so savings are always the first priority. Psychologically powerful: you never miss what you never see, and your savings rate doesn't fluctuate with willpower.
An aggressive 40/10/50 split — 40% needs, 10% wants, 50% savings. Built for people pursuing Financial Independence, Retire Early. Requires discipline and usually a higher income to be feasible in the UK, but dramatically accelerates the timeline. The planner shows an estimated FIRE year based on your savings rate and 7% projected growth.
Pick the blank-plan option and assign every single pound of income to a category. By the end of allocation, your unallocated balance is exactly zero. Tighter than percentage-based methods and especially effective for paying down debt or maximising savings. The planner's balance bar shows your unallocated amount in real time so you know exactly when you've hit zero.
Beginners and most working adults: 50/30/20. London, Manchester centre, high cost-of-living: 60/30/10. People who keep failing at end-of-month willpower: Pay Yourself First. Those pursuing financial independence: FIRE Mode. Disciplined planners and debt-payoff focused: zero-based. You can also create multiple plans and try a different framework each month to see which one sticks.
UK specifics
Your gross salary is meaningless for monthly budgeting. The figure that matters is what actually lands in your account: gross minus income tax, National Insurance, pension contributions, and any student loan repayment. If you only know your gross, run it through a UK salary calculator first to find your real monthly take-home, then enter that into the planner. Budgeting from gross is the single most common reason a UK budget planner stops matching reality.
If you're using a Stocks & Shares ISA, Cash ISA, or Lifetime ISA, treat the monthly contribution as a real line item in your savings bucket — not as a "see what's left at the end of the month" afterthought. The £20,000 annual ISA allowance is roughly £1,667 a month if you wanted to fill it. For most people, allocating 5–15% of take-home into the ISA is a strong middle ground.
The 50/30/20 framework speaks in percentages — but day-to-day decisions are in pounds. The planner above shows both: your target as a £/month figure and the actual percentage of income each row represents. Set the percentages first to anchor the plan, then refine in pounds as you fill in the categories. If a row pushes you over the framework target, the running total turns amber or red so you know where to trim.
Some UK fixed costs aren't strictly monthly — council tax is often paid over 10 instalments, water is sometimes biannual, car tax is annual or 6-monthly. To avoid surprises, take the annual bill, divide by 12, and treat that as the monthly line. Set up a separate savings sinking fund so the cash is there when the bill lands.
If you contribute to your workplace pension via salary sacrifice or a net-pay arrangement, your take-home pay already reflects that contribution. Don't budget it again as a savings line — that double-counts. Only budget pension contributions as a savings line if they're coming from your post-tax take-home pay (e.g. a SIPP top-up).
FAQ
The questions people most often type into Google about UK budgeting.
Start with your monthly take-home pay (after income tax, National Insurance, pension, and any student loan). Allocate it across three buckets: needs (rent, council tax, utilities, groceries, transport), wants (eating out, hobbies, subscriptions), and savings or investments.
The 50/30/20 framework is the most common starting point. Use the budget planner above to build a monthly plan — every section is visible on one page so you can edit it as a single document.
50% of post-tax income to needs, 30% to wants, 20% to savings or debt repayment. Popularised by US senator Elizabeth Warren, it's a balanced default that suits most UK earners outside high-cost areas.
If you live in London or another high-cost area, a 60/30/10 split is often more realistic because essentials cost more. The planner above supports both.
Yes — the budget planner on this page is completely free, with no sign up, no email collection, and no paywall. Plans are saved privately on your device using browser local storage. Nothing you enter is sent to a server.
A common UK rule of thumb is at least 20% of take-home pay — split between an emergency fund (3–6 months of essential spending), pension contributions, and longer-term savings or investments.
If you're aiming for FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early), 30–50% is more typical. The exact figure depends on your goals — a deposit, retirement timeline, debt payoff — and your cost of living.
Zero-based budgeting means giving every pound of income a job — by the end of allocation, your unallocated balance is exactly zero. Every category, including savings, gets a specific amount.
It's tighter than percentage-based methods and is popular with people paying down debt or maximising savings. Use the blank-plan option in the planner above to build one.
The planner here works equally well for couples — combine your two take-home incomes into a single monthly figure and build the plan against that.
Many couples create separate plans (e.g. "My budget" and "Joint budget") to track personal and shared spending differently. The planner lets you save unlimited plans on your device and switch between them.
Pay Yourself First means your savings come out the moment your salary lands — usually via standing order on payday — before any other allocation. Whatever remains is yours to spend on needs and wants.
The psychological lever: you never miss what you never see, and your savings rate doesn't fluctuate with end-of-month willpower. The planner above includes it as a framework option.
Always budget from your monthly take-home pay, not gross. Take-home is your gross minus income tax, National Insurance, pension contributions, and any student loan repayment.
If you only know your gross, run it through a UK salary calculator first to find your actual net monthly income, then enter that figure into the budget planner.
The full picture
Vault is the home for everything this planner sets up — your net worth, your spending, your tax, your plan, all in one private view. Same principles: free, private, local only. Nothing you enter ever leaves your device.
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