Money / Savings
Emergency Fund Calculator
Work out how big your emergency fund should be, from your essential monthly spending and the months it should last, and how long it will take to save at your current rate.
Emergency Fund Calculator: The target is your essential monthly spending times the months you want covered. What is still missing, divided by your monthly saving and rounded up, gives the months to go, and the date that falls on. The tool also shows how many months your current savings would last. Runs 100% locally in your browser with zero server file uploads.
- Category
- Home & family tools
- Runs
- In your browser
- Cost
- Free · no sign-up
- Availability
- Ready to use
Runs entirely in your browser
What you have now would cover 0 months of essentials.
Count only what you must keep paying if your income stopped: housing, food, utilities, transport, insurance, and minimum debt payments. Three to six months is the usual advice; nearer six, or more, if you are self-employed, have one income in the household, or work in a field where jobs take long to find. Keep the fund somewhere safe and easy to reach, such as a savings account. Your figures are saved only in this browser.
A worked example
With essential spending of 2,500 a month, a six-month fund is 15,000. Starting from 4,000 and saving 500 a month, the remaining 11,000 takes 22 months.
To find room for that monthly saving, use the budget planner; if expensive debt is competing for the same money, the debt payoff calculator.
Where to keep it
The fund needs to be safe and quick to reach, not to earn the most: an easy-access savings account suits it better than shares, which may be down just when you need them.
Use it only for real emergencies, such as losing your job, a medical bill, or an urgent repair, and refill it afterwards. Track it alongside everything else with the net worth calculator.
How to use it
- Enter what you must spend each month even without an income.
- Choose how many months the fund should cover, and what you have saved.
- Enter what you can put aside each month, and read the target and the date you will reach it.
Privacy & limitations
Your figures stay in your browser and are not sent anywhere.
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Frequently asked questions
How many months should an emergency fund cover?
Three to six months of essential spending is the usual advice. Aim higher if your income is irregular, you are the only earner, or a new job would take long to find.
What counts as essential spending?
What you would still have to pay without an income: rent or mortgage, food, utilities, transport, insurance, and minimum debt payments. Leave out holidays, eating out, and extra savings.
Should I pay off debt first?
A small fund of a month's essentials stops a surprise bill going on a credit card; many people build that first, then pay down expensive debt, then finish the fund.
Free tool · runs in your browser · no account required