Assign every dollar.
Leave nothing over.
Enter your monthly income and assign it to categories until you reach $0. That's zero-based budgeting.
After tax. What actually lands in your account each month.
Budget Categories
Edit names, change amounts, add or remove rows. Every dollar needs a job.
What to do when you have money left over.
If the remaining balance is positive, the whole point of zero-based budgeting is that you don't leave it floating. That unassigned dollar will drift into something unplanned by the end of the month — it always does.
Common places to put the rest:
- → Bump up your emergency fund until it covers 3–6 months of expenses.
- → Add it to a specific savings goal — vacation, car, down payment.
- → Make an extra payment on your highest-interest debt. The guaranteed "return" beats almost any investment.
The goal is $0 remaining — not because you spent it all, but because every dollar was given a deliberate purpose before you spent anything.
This calculator gives you a plan.
LazeeFish makes it live.
Your zero-based plan
- ✓ Assign every dollar to a category
- ✓ Visualize how close you are to $0
- ✓ Identify gaps in your budget
- ✓ Works with no account or login
Your plan + real transactions
- ✓ Bank sync imports every purchase automatically
- ✓ Auto-categorization drops transactions into envelopes
- ✓ See live envelope balances — no manual logging
- ✓ No credit card
Zero-based budgeting questions.
What is a zero-based budget?
Every dollar of income is assigned a job (spending, saving, or debt) so that income minus all assignments equals exactly zero. Not that you spend everything, but that every dollar has a purpose.
Is zero-based budgeting the same as envelope budgeting?
They're complementary. Zero-based budgeting is the philosophy (every dollar assigned). Envelope budgeting is the method (assign dollars to named categories and track spending within each). LazeeFish uses both.
How is zero-based different from the 50/30/20 rule?
50/30/20 gives you broad buckets (needs/wants/savings). Zero-based budgeting assigns every dollar to a specific category, giving you much more control and visibility into where money goes.
What categories should I include in my zero-based budget?
Start with the four walls (housing, food, utilities, transportation), then savings, then debt payments, then discretionary. The calculator above includes common categories as a starting point — edit, add, and remove as needed for your situation.
Is this calculator free?
Yes, completely free. No signup required. Use it as many times as you like — monthly, when income changes, or whenever you want to re-plan.
Take your zero-based
budget live.
Connect your bank. LazeeFish fills your envelopes automatically — every transaction, no manual entry.