Monthly Budget Planner
Enter your income and expenses, track your budget, and set savings goals. Everything runs in your browser — no data is stored.
Why a monthly budget?
Tracking a monthly budget is the single most important step toward financial stability. When you know where your money goes, you can make smarter decisions — save more, cut unnecessary expenses, and reach your goals faster.
The simple rule:income minus expenses equals savings. If the result is negative, it"s time to review what can change. If it"s positive, keep it up and set new goals to grow your wealth.
How this calculator works
The dashboard computes three quantities every time you change an input. Total Income is the sum of all income rows. Total Planned is the sum of every category's planned amount, and Total Actual is the sum of every category's actual amount. The Balance is income minus actual (or income minus planned, if no actuals have been entered yet). The pie chart re-renders from the same arrays — slices are sized by share of total expenses, and the bar chart compares planned vs actual side by side.
We default to ten standard categories (housing, groceries, transport, education, health, entertainment, savings, clothing, bills, other) and a single income row at ₪15,000 net. These defaults match the 2026 distribution implied by CBS household surveys for a working-age Israeli household — but they are starting points, not prescriptions. Add categories, change names, delete what you do not need.
The widely used 50/30/20 ruleis a useful sanity check: roughly 50% of net income on needs (housing, food, transport, utilities, basic health), 30% on wants (entertainment, dining out, clothing beyond basics), and 20% on savings and debt repayment. With Israeli housing prices in central regions, the "needs" share has crept higher in recent years — many young Tel Aviv households operate closer to 60/25/15. Use the rule as a target, not a verdict.
What it does NOT calculate
- Net salary from gross — use the Net Salary calculator first, then paste the net figure here.
- Inflation drift — categories are tracked in nominal shekels for the current month, not in real terms over years.
- Tax on side income (freelance, capital gains, rental) — declare those net of tax when adding them as income rows.
- Debt amortization — the balance of an existing loan or mortgage is not subtracted from net worth here; this is a cash-flow tool only.
- Forward forecasting — there is no "project this 12 months out" mode; the dashboard is a snapshot of one month.
Worked examples
Example 1 — Young couple, Tel Aviv. Combined net ₪22,000. Rent ₪7,800, groceries ₪3,200, transport ₪1,400, bills ₪900, entertainment ₪1,500, savings ₪2,500, other ₪1,200. Total actual ₪18,500. Surplus ₪3,500/month — about 16% savings rate, slightly below the 50/30/20 target of 20%.
Example 2 — Family with two kids, Haifa suburbs. Net ₪28,000. Mortgage ₪6,400, groceries ₪5,500, transport ₪2,400, education and tzaharon ₪3,800, health ₪900, bills ₪1,300, entertainment ₪1,800, clothing ₪900, savings ₪3,500. Total actual ₪26,500. Surplus ₪1,500 — tight; the calculator flags entertainment and clothing as the easiest cuts.
Example 3 — Solo freelancer, Jerusalem. Net (after self-employed tax estimate) ₪14,500. Rent ₪3,800, groceries ₪2,100, transport ₪600, health ₪700 (private insurance gap), bills ₪700, entertainment ₪900, savings ₪2,500. Total ₪11,300. Surplus ₪3,200 — healthy 22% savings rate. Emergency fund target: 6 × ₪11,300 = ₪67,800.
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FAQ
How big should my emergency fund be?
Three to six months of essential expenses. In Israeli households with a single earner or freelance income, target the upper end. A salaried dual-income family with low job-loss risk can sit at three months.
Should I budget by net or gross income?
By net. Gross figures include tax, Bituach Leumi, health tax and pension which you do not control month to month. Enter your net (post-deduction) salary in the income row.
Is the 50/30/20 rule realistic in Israel?
It is a target, not a verdict. In central regions where rent is 35-45% of net income, hitting 50% on needs is rare; 60/25/15 is more common. The point is to monitor the ratios, not to match them exactly.
What counts as savings vs investment?
For this dashboard, both go in the "Savings" category. The point is to track the outflow from your monthly account into anything that increases net worth (deposit account, IRA, brokerage, pension top-up).
Common pitfalls in the Israeli context?
Three: ignoring annual lump sums (arnona, car insurance, school fees) in monthly planning; treating credit-card "splits" as if they were free; and skipping the gap-insurance health categories that become expensive after age 50.
How often should I review the budget?
Monthly for actuals, quarterly for the planned column. Re-baseline whenever income changes by more than 10% or after a major life event (marriage, birth, home purchase).
Where do savings goals fit?
Track them in the Goals tab. The progress bar fills as you increase the "saved" field — useful for an emergency fund, vacation pot or down-payment target.
Sources & last updated
Category defaults reflect distributions from the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) household expenditure survey, latest release. The 50/30/20 rule is attributed to Elizabeth Warren's framework (later popularized in All Your Worth). Updated for 2026 by the Yesh Cash Editor.