PennyCompass

Ireland Monthly Budget Calculator

Free Ireland budget calculator. Build a monthly household budget across income, fixed costs, living costs, and savings.

Published

A monthly household budget with surplus and savings rate.

Monthly surplus

Total expenses

Savings rate

20% target

Your breakdown

Updates live as you type
ItemValue

Worked example

Take a net monthly income of 3,200 euro, with 1,300 euro on rent or mortgage, 250 euro on utilities, 450 euro on groceries, 200 euro on transport, and 400 euro on other spending. Total expenses come to 2,600 euro, leaving a monthly surplus of 600 euro. That surplus is 600 divided by 3,200, a savings rate of about 18.8%. The 50/30/20 guide suggests saving 20% of net income, which here is 640 euro a month, so this budget falls just short of the target by about 40 euro. Trimming one category, or directing a pay rise straight to savings, would close the gap and push the rate over 20%.

How it is calculated

The tool adds up your monthly spending across rent or mortgage, utilities, groceries, transport, and an other category, then subtracts that total from your net monthly income to give the surplus. The savings rate is the surplus divided by income, expressed as a percentage, and it is the single most useful number in any budget because it captures both how much you earn and how much you keep. The 50/30/20 rule is a rough framework: about 50% of net income on needs, 30% on wants, and 20% saved. Rather than forcing your spending into those exact buckets, the calculator simply compares your actual surplus against the 20% savings target, so you can see at a glance whether there is room to save more. It is a guide, not a rule, and a high rent area or a temporary expense can pull the figure around in any given month.

Frequently asked questions

What is the 50/30/20 budget rule?
The 50/30/20 rule suggests spending about 50% of net income on needs (rent or mortgage, utilities, groceries, transport), 30% on wants, and saving the remaining 20%. It is a rough guide rather than a rule. This calculator compares your actual surplus against the 20% savings target so you can see whether your budget leaves room to save.
Should I enter my gross income or net income?
Enter your net income, which is take-home pay after PAYE income tax, PRSI, and the Universal Social Charge (USC) have been deducted by your employer. In Ireland these three deductions are collected together via the PAYE system. If you are unsure of your net figure, check your most recent payslip or use a gross-to-net calculator to estimate the deductions for your salary band before entering a number here.
How does Revenue collect income tax in Ireland?
Revenue, the Irish tax authority, collects income tax, PRSI, and USC through the PAYE system for employees. For 2025 and 2026 the standard rate of income tax is 20% on income up to the rate band cut-off, and 40% on income above it. The USC applies at separate graduated rates starting at 0.5% on income up to 12,012 euro and rising to 8% on income above 70,044 euro. PRSI for employees is 4.1% on all reckonable earnings. These combined deductions mean that the net monthly take-home for a typical salary is noticeably lower than the gross figure.
What counts as a need versus a want in an Irish household budget?
Needs are expenses that are difficult to avoid: rent or mortgage repayments, electricity, gas, heating oil, and bin charges (utilities), a weekly grocery shop covering food and household essentials, and the cost of getting to work whether by public transport or by car. Wants include eating out, subscriptions, clothing beyond basics, and leisure. The distinction matters because the 50/30/20 framework targets needs at roughly 50% of net income. In Dublin and other high-rent cities, rent alone can push the needs share well above 50%, which is normal and does not mean the budget is broken, it just means the wants and savings categories have to absorb the trade-off.

Related calculators

Sources

  1. Revenue — Income Tax, USC and Tax Credits, Revenue (Office of the Revenue Commissioners), Ireland
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