Build your budget, block by block

Select a category from the left panel — Housing, Transport, Food & Drink, and so on — then tap any item to add it. Each item lands in the centre column where you can edit the dollar amount and payment frequency directly. Use the custom item form at the bottom of the picker to add anything not covered by the 60+ presets.

Every item is converted to a monthly equivalent based on its frequency: weekly amounts are multiplied by 52 then divided by 12 (≈ 4.33×), fortnightly by 26 ÷ 12, quarterly ÷ 3, and annual ÷ 12. All monthly equivalents are summed for the household total, then multiplied by 12 for the annual figure. The "View as" toggle in the summary switches the displayed numbers between monthly, annual, and weekly.

There are three options. Excel produces a formatted .xlsx budget report with a summary, income context, and category breakdown with visual spend bars — the best option for sharing or filing. CSV exports a flat spreadsheet with one row per item, useful if you want raw data for further analysis in Excel or Google Sheets. JSON saves your complete budget state so you can import it back into the tool at any time and resume editing. Use Excel for a polished report, CSV for raw data, and JSON to save your work.

The Excel file has two sections. The Budget Summary shows total line items, monthly and annual spend, and — if you entered your take-home pay — your income, per-person share (couple mode), and the percentage of income your budget represents. The Detailed Breakdown lists every item grouped by category with amount, frequency, monthly cost, annual cost, and percentage of total. Each category row includes a proportional bar so you can see at a glance which categories dominate your budget.

Toggle "Couple" in the Budget Summary panel. The tool divides the household total by two and shows an "each" figure beneath the main totals — if the household spends $6,000/mo, the couple view shows $3,000 each. This assumes all expenses are split equally and is a display layer only — no item amounts change. Switch the income field to your combined household income for the most useful comparison.

No. Everything runs in your browser — there is no account, no server, and nothing is stored when you close or refresh the tab. To save your work, tap "Save as JSON" before leaving and keep the file somewhere handy. Import it anytime using the "Import saved budget" button in the page header to resume exactly where you left off.

A common framework is the 50/30/20 rule: roughly 50% of take-home on needs (housing, utilities, transport, groceries, health), 30% on wants (dining, entertainment, hobbies), and 20% on savings and debt repayment. These are rough benchmarks — your split will depend on income, family size, location, and goals. In Sydney and Melbourne, housing alone often exceeds 35–40% of take-home for renters, which means the remaining categories must flex accordingly.

The widely cited guideline is to keep total housing costs — rent or mortgage plus utilities — at or below 30% of gross income. Households above that threshold are considered to be in housing stress. In Australian capital cities, median rents and repayments regularly push households above 30%. Enter your take-home in the income field and the summary panel will show you exactly what percentage your total spend represents.

The presets are typical Australian averages — a starting point, not a prescription. Rent varies enormously by city and suburb, insurance premiums depend on age and cover, and grocery bills scale with household size. Update every amount to match what you actually pay. The presets are there so you are not starting from blank fields; they are not a statement of what you should be spending.