Monthly budget planner

How the 50/30/20 rule works

The 50/30/20 rule splits your take-home pay (salary after tax and deductions, not your CTC) into three buckets:

• 50% needs: rent, groceries, electricity, water and gas, your phone bill, school fees and getting to work.
• 30% wants: eating out, ordering in, shopping, subscriptions, outings and holidays.
• 20% savings: your emergency fund first, then goals and investments such as an SIP.

On a take-home salary of ₹50,000, that's ₹25,000 for needs, ₹15,000 for wants and ₹10,000 for savings.

Make the split fit your life

50/30/20 is a starting point, not a rule you fail. In a big city where rent alone takes a third of your pay, 60/20/20 is more honest. If you're clearing old dues or building an emergency fund, push savings to 30% and trim wants.

Planning a household budget

For a family, plan on the combined take-home income and list shared costs once: rent, groceries, school fees, help at home, medicines. Then give each person a small wants budget of their own, so day-to-day spending doesn't need a discussion.

Planning on a new salary

Budget on the amount that actually lands in your account each month. Annual costs such as insurance premiums or school fees belong in the plan too: divide them by 12 and set that much aside every month. The monthly expense calculator does that maths for you.

A plan only works if you track it

Most budgets fail in week two, when real spending stops matching the plan. Tindra keeps the plan honest on your phone:

• Monthly budgets per category with clear progress bars, and alerts before you overspend, not after.
• UPI auto-capture turns payment alerts into draft expenses you approve with one tap. It reads notifications on your phone and never asks for SMS access. How it works.
• Recurring transactions post rent, salary and subscriptions automatically.
• Savings goals show what to set aside each month to reach a target by a date.