A budget planner calculator helps you assign your monthly income across spending categories before the month starts — housing, food, transport, savings, and more.
Enter your take-home pay and how much you plan to spend in each major bucket. The calculator totals your plan and shows how much income is still unassigned (or if you are over-planned).
Income − Planned categories = Unassigned (or over-plan)
This is the planning step from our monthly budget guide. For a quick leftover check after fixed bills, try the monthly budget calculator. Save caps and track spending in Ziko when you are ready.
Real-life example (try this in the calculator)
Sofia takes home $3,800 per month. She drafts category caps before payday so every dollar has a job.
Sofia's plan
Amount
Calculator field
Take-home pay
$3,800
Monthly take-home pay
Rent + utilities + insurance
$1,600
Housing & bills
Groceries + dining out
$550
Living costs
Gas + transit pass
$250
Transport
Emergency fund + goals
$400
Savings
Total planned
$2,800
(auto total)
$3,800 − $2,800 = $1,000 unassigned — Sofia might add $300 subscriptions, $200 personal care, and $500 fun before the plan is fully assigned.
Tap Use example to load Sofia's numbers, then swap in your income and category caps. See our budget categories list for more line items to add in Ziko.
How to read your results
Unassigned income — Money not yet given a category. Aim to assign it (subscriptions, fun, extra debt) or move it to savings. Negative means your plan exceeds income.
Total planned — Sum of housing, living, transport, and savings caps you entered.
Income assigned — What share of your pay is already in the plan. 100% means every dollar is named.
The monthly budget calculator uses fixed bills + savings to find leftover spending money. This planner breaks your plan into category caps so you can see if the full income is assigned.
Add more categories — fun, subscriptions, gifts, or extra savings — until unassigned is near zero. That is intentional budgeting, not a mistake.
This tool uses four common buckets to keep it simple. In Ziko you can create as many category caps as you need and track each one month to month.
Turn this plan into a real monthly budget.Set income, category caps, and alerts in Ziko — free, no bank login.