Plan your spend

How should you split your income?

Popular theory has it that the best budgets abide by the 50/30/20 rule: 50% goes to your needs, 30% to your wants and 20% your goals. This easy calculator will help you figure out how much money you have available for each category – just fill in your monthly income. Remember, everyone’s buckets will look a little bit different.

50% needs

These are the important things you can’t ignore. Your home, three meals a day, running water, electricity, loan repayments. If it can’t be skipped, it goes in this bucket.

30% wants

New clothes. Weekly brunch. Concert tickets. Your wants are the things that make life good, but you could potentially give up if you absolutely had to. If you can afford it, set aside 30% of your income for the fun stuff.

20% goals

This bucket looks different for everybody. You might be saving for a house, paying off debt or building up some emergency savings. Whatever your goals are, try to give them 20% of your income.

Get on top of your expenses at all costs

Money comes in and money goes out. But where is it actually going? See how your spending stacks up by dividing your current expenses into needs or wants based on what’s important to you.

Need a helping hand? This free expense tracking calculator (PDF 963kB) is a good place to start. See how much you’re spending and decide if it’s time to cut your losses.

Already an ANZ customer? View your personalised Your Money Report in the ANZ App, so you can get a snapshot of where some of your money is going, by merchant and category, every month.

Keep your wants alive

We’re all about budgeting smarter, not harder. So, if something is a priority for you, make it work - but play it smart. Wait for cheap ticket nights. Join rewards programs. Flick through mail for bargains. Where there’s a want there’s a way, so note down what you want to prioritise.

Not all of us get excited by a well-constructed Excel spreadsheet, which is why we’ve made it easy to manage your money with this free 50/30/20 budget worksheet (PDF 753kB). Simply add in your income, your expenses and other important monthly costs, and voila. You’ve got a better understanding of your finances and can start prepping for the future. Or, if you prefer to build your budget online, check out our budget building tool.

Start budget building

Ways to track every dollar

Living by your budget is all about keeping track of where your money is going – from daily spending and savings deposits to emergency expenses. You can keep track of this with an expense tracker on your phone, a big old Excel spreadsheet, or go old school with pen and paper. The important thing is that you start paying attention to it.