clovaBudgeting
How to choose a budget method
Pick the method that answers the question you keep getting stuck on: how to split your pay, what each dollar is for, how much is left to spend, or how to save before it's gone.
By Clova teamPublished Sources
If you've started a budget before and let it slide, the method may not have suited the problem you had. A rough split helps when you don't know where to start. A detailed plan helps when money keeps going on things you forgot about. The four common methods below are tried on the same pay, so you can see what each one asks of you and choose the one that fits.
What each budget method helps you decide
A budget method is a set of rules for deciding where your pay goes. Every example here uses one made-up pay: $2,400 of take-home pay a fortnight. Take-home pay is the amount that lands in your account after tax.
Most methods sort spending into needs and wants. Needs are costs you'd struggle to live or work without, like rent and groceries. Wants are things you choose and could pause, like eating out (there's more on telling them apart below). In the example, needs cost $1,500 a fortnight: $900 rent, $250 groceries, $150 transport and $200 for bills. The bills money includes a little put aside each fortnight for bills that only come once or twice a year. There's no debt to repay.
Here's what each method does with that pay:
- The 50/30/20 rule splits your pay by percentage: 50% for needs, 30% for wants and 20% for savings.
- Zero-based budgeting gives every dollar a job until nothing is left without one.
- Envelope budgeting gives each spending category its own amount, which goes down as you spend.
- Pay yourself first means moving your savings out on payday, before you spend anything else.
The figure puts the $2,400 through all four. The 50/30/20 row shows the rule before it meets the real costs; the next section shows what happens when it does.
- 50/30/20 ruleHow much goes to needs, wants and savings?
- Zero-based budgetingWhat job does each dollar have?
- Envelope budgetingHow much is left to spend in each category?
- Pay yourself firstHow much do I save before I spend?
How the 50/30/20 rule splits your pay
The 50/30/20 rule puts 50% of take-home pay towards needs, 30% towards wants and 20% towards savings or paying off debt. On $2,400 a fortnight, that's $1,200 for needs, $720 for wants and $480 for savings.
It's quick to work out, which makes it a good first check. The catch is that a percentage can't make rent cheaper. In the example, needs cost $1,500, which is $300 more than the $1,200 the rule allows.
The figure compares the rule's split with one adjusted to the real costs. If you keep saving $480, the extra $300 for needs has to come out of wants, leaving $420 for wants instead of $720.
Needs taking more than half is common, especially if you rent, and it doesn't mean you're doing anything wrong. Some people use 60/20/20 instead (60% needs, 20% wants, 20% savings), or 70/15/15. The 50/30/20 guide works through those splits on a full week of costs.
This method suits you if you want a simple place to start and your needs fit, or nearly fit, into half your pay.
How zero-based budgeting gives every dollar a job
Zero-based budgeting means planning your pay until every dollar has a purpose and $0 is left without one. Savings and money for later bills count as purposes too. You choose the amounts; there are no set percentages.
In the example, needs keep their $1,500. Savings get $480: $300 for emergency savings, which is money kept for surprises like a car repair, and $180 for a longer-term goal like a holiday. The last $420 goes on wants: $180 for eating out and $240 for other spending.
- Rent$900
- Bills$200
- Groceries$250
- Transport$150
- Eating out$180
- Other spending$240
- Emergency savings$300
- Longer-term goal$180
The zero belongs to the plan, not your bank account. Straight after payday, the account still holds most of the $2,400. It's just all spoken for.
The strength of this method is that trade-offs are out in the open. If groceries need another $40 one fortnight, you move $40 from another job, such as other spending, and you can see exactly what gave way. The cost is upkeep: the plan only helps if you change it when your costs change. The zero-based budgeting guide has a printable worksheet to start with.
This method suits you if you keep forgetting what your money has to cover, or you like knowing exactly what each dollar is for.
How envelope budgeting tracks what's left
Envelope budgeting gives each spending category its own amount for the pay period, as if the cash sat in a labelled envelope. As you spend, the envelope goes down. When it's empty, you either stop spending in that category until payday or move money in from another envelope. You don't need cash: a notebook, spreadsheet or app can keep the balances.
In the example, the four categories you spend from day to day get envelopes: groceries $250, transport $150, eating out $180 and other spending $240. That's $820 in all. Rent, bills and savings are set aside separately.
A week into the fortnight, you've spent $70 on groceries, $40 on transport, $60 eating out and $90 on other things, $260 in all. If all your money sits in one account, the balance is now $2,140. That looks like plenty, but most of it is already promised to rent, bills and savings. The figure shows how much is actually left to spend.
- Groceries$180 left$70 spentof $250
- Transport$110 left$40 spentof $150
- Eating out$120 left$60 spentof $180
- Other spending$150 left$90 spentof $240
Envelopes work well alongside a zero-based plan. The plan sets the amounts on payday, and the envelopes show what's left of them during the fortnight. They only work if every purchase comes off the right envelope. Check the envelope before you spend, so you know whether there's room. The envelope budgeting guide covers setting them up, with cash or without.
This method suits you if one category, like groceries or eating out, keeps running out before payday.
What paying yourself first changes
Paying yourself first means moving your savings out as soon as you're paid, before any other spending. Many people set up an automatic transfer to a savings account for the day their pay lands, so the saving happens without having to remember it.
In the example, $480 goes to savings as soon as the $2,400 arrives. That leaves $1,920. Needs take $1,500 of it, which leaves $420 for wants.
Those are the same amounts as the adjusted 50/30/20 split and the zero-based plan. Paying yourself first doesn't create extra money. It changes the order, so saving happens first instead of coming from whatever is left at the end.
Check the transfer against your bills before you set it up. If it leaves too little for rent or a bill due before your next pay, make it smaller. A small amount you can keep up is better than a bigger one you keep moving back. If your pay changes from week to week, wait until each pay arrives and check what's due before moving money.
This method suits you if saving keeps getting squeezed out by the end of each pay, and your needs are already covered.
How to pick between them
Start with the problem you keep running into, not the method you've heard most about.
- You don't know where to start: try the 50/30/20 rule as a first check, then adjust it to what your needs really cost.
- Money goes on things you forgot about: make a zero-based plan that names every job, including bills due after your next pay.
- One category keeps running out: give it an envelope and check what's left before you spend.
- Saving never seems to happen: pay yourself first, with an amount your needs can live with.
You can mix them. Plenty of people make a zero-based plan on payday, move their savings first and keep envelopes for groceries and eating out. Try one for a month or two of pays. If keeping it up feels like a chore, make it simpler rather than giving up on having a plan.
Whichever you choose, the next step is the same: give your next pay a plan.
How to tell needs from wants
Several of these methods ask you to sort costs into needs and wants. Sort the specific cost, not the whole category. A basic phone plan can be a need while the upgrade on top of it is a want. Groceries are a need, but the snacks you add for the weekend might not be.
If you're not sure, ask whether you'd struggle to live, work or meet a commitment without it. Rent, basic food, getting to work and essential bills pass that test. Takeaway, streaming and new clothes you don't need yet usually don't.
Bills that only come once or twice a year, like car registration or insurance, are needs too. Put a little aside each pay so the money's there when they arrive, and keep it apart from your emergency savings so one doesn't quietly use up the other. Update your budget whenever your income or costs change.
Show the method and assumptions
All amounts are made up, in whole Australian dollars, for one fortnight of take-home pay with no debt. Needs are $1,500: rent $900, groceries $250, transport $150 and bills $200, including money put aside for bills that come once or twice a year.
50/30/20: 50%, 30% and 20% of $2,400 are $1,200, $720 and $480. Adjusted to the real needs and keeping savings at $480, wants are $2,400 − $1,500 − $480 = $420.
Zero-based: $900 + $200 + $250 + $150 + $180 + $240 + $300 + $180 = $2,400, leaving $0 to assign.
Envelopes: $70 + $40 + $60 + $90 = $260 spent in the first week. Left in the envelopes: $180 + $110 + $120 + $150 = $560. Account balance: $2,400 − $260 = $2,140, of which $1,100 is for rent and bills and $480 is savings.
Pay yourself first: $2,400 − $480 = $1,920, and $1,920 − $1,500 = $420.