What is a savings rate and how do you calculate it from monthly income and spending?
Last updated: October 27, 2026
In short: Your savings rate is a month's income minus its spending, divided by the income. If you earned 40,000 and spent 34,000, you divide 6,000 by 40,000 and the rate is 15 percent. Because the rate does not depend on the amount, it lets you compare months with different incomes. Wiozen Ledger works it out for every month in the monthly report.
The formula and two examples
Savings rate = (income − spending) / income. Income is the denominator because the question is "how much of what I earned did I keep?".
With 40,000 of income and 34,000 of spending in September, the rate is 15 percent. If October brings 30,000 of income and 33,000 of spending, what is left is minus 3,000 and the rate is minus 10 percent. A negative rate means you lived on savings or borrowed that month. In a month with no income at all, there is no rate to calculate.
Why a rate rather than an amount?
Is saving 6,000 a month good? It depends on income. It is 15 percent for someone earning 40,000 and 7.5 percent for someone earning 80,000. The rate tells you what the amount does not: whether your spending grows along with your income, or stays put while your income rises.
A pay rise is where the rate shows this most clearly. If your income went up 20 percent and your savings rate stayed the same, most of the extra money went on spending. If the rate went up, you really kept part of the raise.
What should not count as income or spending?
The rate only means something if income and spending are separated properly. Transfers between your own accounts, ATM withdrawals and credit card payments are neither income nor spending. Neither is money you lend or borrow. Wiozen Ledger leaves all of these out of the rate.
With an installment purchase only that month's installment counts as spending, so a phone bought in 12 installments does not sink one month's rate. If you paid a shared bill in full, only your share counts as spending. Daily wage payments count as income in the month you receive them.
Buying and selling items can skew the rate. The month you sell your old car, income jumps; the month you buy the new one, spending does. The Exclude link near the top of the monthly report takes item trades out of the calculation, and the report then says Item trades excluded.
Where is the rate in the monthly report?
The top of the monthly report shows the month's income, spending and the difference, each with how much it changed in percent compared to last month. Right below is the Savings rate line. If no income was entered that month, it says no income instead of a rate. The arrow buttons take you to earlier months so you can compare rates.
The rest of the report explains why the rate came out the way it did. Categories shows what you spent in each category this month and last. Biggest increases lists the three categories that grew most compared to last month, and Biggest expenses lists the five largest expenses of the month. The Daily spending chart shows on which days of the month the money went out. You can print the report or save it as a PDF with Print / PDF.
Where to start if the rate is low
Look at Biggest increases first. A low rate usually comes from one or two items jumping, not from everything going up at once. Then check Biggest expenses for a one off cost: a yearly insurance premium or a new fridge can pull a month's rate down on its own.
If the Daily spending chart shows tall bars at weekends or in the days after payday, that spending is the easiest to rein in. If you want to keep an eye on one item for good, give its category a budget; the guide on monthly budgets by category explains how.
Reading the rate month by month
Do not read too much into a single month. Yearly bills, holiday months and trips pull the rate down for a month. Looking at several months together shows the trend more reliably.
The report for the current month uses the records entered so far. If rent goes out at the start of the month and your salary arrives at the end, the rate can look negative halfway through; check it again when the month is over.
Which plan includes this?
Pro includes the monthly report and savings rate. Every new account gets 14 days of Pro without a card; after that Pro is $39.99 a year or $6.99 a month. The free plan has 1 account and 30 records a month. Details are on the pricing page. The free plan has no monthly report.
Frequently asked questions
- How is the savings rate calculated?
- Monthly spending is subtracted from monthly income and the result is divided by the income. With 40,000 of income and 34,000 of spending, the rate is 15 percent.
- My savings rate is negative. What does that mean?
- You spent more than you earned that month. The gap was covered by savings, a credit card balance or borrowed money.
- Does money I lend count as spending?
- No. Lending and being paid back are receivable movements and stay out of income and spending. The monthly report shows them separately under Debt and receivable movements.
- Why does the current month's rate change every day?
- The report is based on the records entered so far. Each new income or expense moves the rate; it settles once the month is over.
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