JD Budget & Loan Planner
Plan your 3 years of law school, estimate loan needs, and build a monthly budget that works.
Update inputs below to see your personalized projection.
Starting data sourced from ABA reports via AccessLex for 2024-2025, adjusted ~3% per year.
Prefer a spreadsheet? Open the Google Sheets version
Law School Costs
Enter your school's cost of attendance and how many years/times each cost applies.
| One Time / Yearly Expenses | Amount | Multiplier | Total (3 Yrs) |
|---|---|---|---|
|
$
|
Basic Monthly Expense Overview (36 months)
Your school provides an estimated cost of living. Adjust to fit your situation. The savings goal auto-fills from your one-time costs unless overridden.
| Monthly Expense | Monthly Amount | Months | Total (3 Yrs) |
|---|---|---|---|
|
$
|
|||
| Total Program Expense Estimate | |||
Financial Resources
Income and savings you'll apply toward the program. Tax adjustments are auto-applied to wages.
| Income / Resource | Amount | Multiplier | Total (3 Yrs) |
|---|---|---|---|
|
$
|
|||
| Total Financial Resources | |||
Estimated Funding Gap / Loan Need
This is what you'll need to borrow to cover the 3-year program.
Loan Estimates
Federal loans are typically preferred for law students. The federal term auto-adjusts to balance. Set the federal cap to $0 to model private loans only.
| Loan Term (Yrs) | Est. Interest Rate | Loan Amount | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Federal Loan Eligibility
Term tiers up with balance. Cap is $150k by default. |
%
|
$
Used: |
|
|
Private Loan Need
Rate & term depend on credit. Common terms: 10 or 15 years. |
%
|
Per Academic Year
Federal Pmt (Std)
per month
Private Pmt
per month
Total Monthly
per month
Post-Graduation Debt-to-Income
Based on the median legal starting salary reported by NALP. DTI here is loan payments only; mortgages, car payments, and other debt compound this for future lending. Lenders typically prefer DTI < 36%.
Monthly Gross Pay
Projected DTI Ratio
%
Student Loan Refund Inputs
After your school applies your aid to tuition and fees, the leftover is refunded to you for living expenses. This estimates the monthly refund.
Scholarships, grants, and planned student loan borrowing.
Typically tuition, fees, and health insurance if applicable.
$529 is the standard amount for $50K in Federal Loans.
Typically needed at the start of each semester.
Divide by 12 if you're not working during breaks. Otherwise, use the months covered by your academic year (typically 9).
Refund Breakdown
Standard Monthly Refund
Half of book/supply estimate is auto-added to August and January in the Monthly Budget tab.
Monthly Budget
Income comes from your Student Loan Refund (auto-calculated for each month, with book/supply additions in August and January). Edit any cell to override. Surplus/Deficit shows how much room is left each month.
| Category | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Student Loan Refund | ||||||||||||
| Other Income/Savings | ||||||||||||
| Total Income | ||||||||||||
| Planned Expenses (pulled from 4-Year Overview) | ||||||||||||
| Books/Supplies | ||||||||||||
| Total Expenses | ||||||||||||
| Surplus / Deficit | ||||||||||||
Annual Income
Annual Expenses
Annual Surplus / Deficit
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Monthly Spending Tracker
Log your real expenses as they happen and see how you're tracking against your planned budget. Saved locally to your browser.
| Expense | Planned | Spent | Remaining |
|---|---|---|---|
| Books/Supplies | |||
| Totals |
Expense Log
Track expenses below to see how your budget is evolving this month. ( / entries)
| Date | Expense Type | Amount | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| No entries yet. Click "Add Entry" to log your first expense. | ||||
|
$
|
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Income-Driven Repayment Estimates
Models the Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP) for federal loans during and after a clerkship. Wage growth is auto-applied.
Excluding yourself and spouse.
Visit studentaid.gov/pslf for details.
Typically earnings from Spring of 2L year, summer, and Fall of 3L year.
Typical clerkship pay; if not clerking, enter your expected first-year salary.
Federal loans borrowed plus accrued interest during 3 years of law school.
Recent federal direct rates; changes each academic year.
Prepopulates the post-clerkship/graduation salary from published NALP data for recent law grads.
Auto-Calculated
Spouse Details
Used because joint payments are based on your combined household income, then split by each person's share of total loans.
Leave at 0 if your spouse has no federal student loans.
Federal Loan Payment Estimates (RAP Plan)
Monthly Payment Range — In Training
Payments use prior-year tax returns, so year 1 still reflects law school income.
First Year Post Training
Often lower since tax data is still mixed between residency and full salary.
Range After Training
Excludes any private loan payments.
Federal Loan Pay Off / Forgiveness
Forgiveness Amount
Total Paid Toward Federal Loan
Year-by-Year Schedule
| Year | Income Used | Monthly Payment | Annual Paid | Balance End |
|---|---|---|---|---|