Tripod's Budget Calculator

"Once you find out where your money is disappearing to, you'll be in a much better position to change your spending habits."
-- Beth Kobliner in her Tripod column
So where does all the money go? You get a new job, pulling down what seems like a caviar and champagne salary, and next thing you know you're back to your college cuisine of ramen noodles and Yoo-Hoo.
Never fear -- Tripod is here. The Budget Calculator is a fast and fun Javascript questionnaire which helps you figure out exactly where your wallet has sprung a leak -- and, once you've answered all the questions, it even provides some great pointers for cutting expenditures and investing the savings that result. A new money-smart you is just a few mouse clicks away!

Income
How many times a month do you get paid?
What's the amount of your take-home pay?	$
Any other sources of income? Rent out any property? A second job? Loansharking? A few casual muggings? Please use the fields on the left to name these other sources of income, and the right fields to enter the amount they bring in each month.
	$
	$
Okay, here's your monthly income. If there's nothing in this field, click on the "compute" button.	$

Expenses
Rent and Utilities
What's your monthly rent or mortgage?	$
How much does the electric company hit you up for?	$
What's your average monthly phone bill?	$
Okay, how 'bout the monthly cable bill?	$
Finally, what are you paying a month for Internet connectivity?	$
Food
How much do you spend each week on groceries?	$
How much do you spend each week eating out?	$
Debt
Most people owe some money -- college loans, credit card debt, installment payments and so on. Use the fields on the left to list who you owe money to, and the fields on the right to list the monthly payments.
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	$
	$
Transportation
If you own a car, answer the next four questions.
What's your monthly car payment?	$
How much does your insurance cost each year?	$
What does it cost to fill up your car?	$
How many times a week do you have to fill up your car?
This one may not apply if you just answered the last three questions - then again, it might.
How much do you spend each week on the subway, bus or other mass transportation?	$
Pocket Money
How much money do you spend each day, on average, on little things like cups of coffee, newspapers, candy bars, a couple beers after work?	$
Luxuries
Here's the fun part -- list those things that you know you spend money on each month. It might be clothes, concert tickets, gifts to charity, CDs, movies, books, comics, or collector thimbles from the Franklin Mint. Figure out how much you spend a month, name it in the left column and put the number to the right.
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	$
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The Bad News
If there are no values in these fields, press the "compute" button and let your browser get busy.
Monthly rent and utilities	$
Monthly food costs	$
Debt payments	$
Transportation costs	$
Pocket money and luxuries	$
The whole shebang	$

Savings
So here's the story -- if you make more than you spend, you've got savings. If you spend more than you make, you're in trouble (what George Herbert Walker Bush used to call "deep doo-doo"). Press the button below to compile the whole form and see how you're doing.
Money you're able to save each month	$

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Income

Expenses

Savings