Money Management
Your money, month by month
A budget calculator made for life on a fixed income. The common costs are already listed — change any amount to your own, remove what does not apply, and add anything we missed. The page adds it all up and shows where the money goes.
Your numbers stay on this page. Nothing is sent anywhere or saved.
Step 1 — Money coming in each month
Step 2 — Set costs: the bills that stay the same
These come due every month at about the same amount. Knowing the set total tells you what is truly spoken for before the month begins.
Step 3 — Changing costs: the spending that moves
These rise and fall month to month — and they are where cutting back is possible. Use a typical month, not your best or worst one.
Your month at a glance
| Money coming in | $0 |
| Set costs | $0 |
| Changing costs | $0 |
| All money going out | $0 |
Ideas to look at
Questions drawn from your own numbers, starting with the changing costs — the set bills are reviewed once or twice a year, the changing costs every week.
Starting amounts are typical monthly figures for households age 65 and older, based on the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Expenditures survey and rounded — change every one to your own.
Guides and articles about money
Plain-word guides on budgeting, benefits, and the costs of care — written for life on a fixed income.
- Building an Emergency Fund in Retirement — How to build an emergency fund on a fixed income in retirement: how much to aim for, where to keep it, and how small steady deposits add up.
- Understanding Spousal, Divorced-Spouse, and Survivor Benefits — How Social Security spousal, divorced-spouse, and survivor benefits work: who can get them, how much they pay, and how the age you claim changes the check.
- Managing Debt After Retirement — How to manage debt on a fixed income: list what you owe and what each debt costs, pay the high-rate balances first, use free nonprofit credit counseling, and spot debt-relief scams.
- Care home expenses to request in writing — Build a written care home quote that covers day-to-day charges, time away, and changes in needs.
- Understand the costs of palliative care — Check the exact services, bills, plan rules, and home costs in a palliative care plan.
- Are Adult Children Responsible for a Parent's Care Costs? — Can a care home bill you for a parent's care? Find out whose debt it is, what filial support laws mean, and what to check before you sign any papers.
- How to build an assisted living budget beyond the advertised rate — Separate housing, care, optional services, and future increases in an ALF budget.
- Nursing home costs when Medicare skilled coverage ends — Get ready for the shift in pay when a covered skilled stay ends.
- Build a home care budget that includes the gaps — Build a home care budget with dated local quotes. Use the same plan for each quote. Add set payer help, home costs, and back up costs.
- Preparing a care budget that includes more than the monthly rate — A good care budget covers the monthly bill, costs that come up now and then, and a plan for change.
- Medicaid Planning and the Five-Year Look-Back: How Asset Transfers Are Treated — Medicaid checks the 60 months before a long-term care application for gifts and sales below full value. A gift in that window can bring a penalty period. Here is how the look-back works and what to check before you move assets.
- Memory Care Costs: What Drives the Price When No National Median Exists — There is no national median price for memory care. See what a memory care quote is made of. Learn which fees raise it. Learn the questions that pin a price down.
- Paying Family Caregivers Through Medicaid Self-Direction — Medicaid self-direction lets a person who needs care hire his or her own caregiver. That caregiver can often be a family member. Read how the program works, step by step, and who handles the pay and tax forms.
- Checking Medicare Savings Programs and Extra Help — Some people have a hard time paying Medicare costs. They may qualify for help.
- Building a realistic budget for day services and respite — Compare day services and respite by the hours of real help they give, not just by the price in the ad.