Emergency fund calculator
Work out how much to keep in an emergency fund and how long it will take to build it from your essential monthly expenses.
Free, no account needed. Everything is calculated in your browser and saved there, so your numbers are still here when you come back, even after you sign up. Nothing you type is sent to us.
Rent or mortgage, utilities, groceries, insurance, transport and minimum debt payments.
Your emergency fund target is , with still to save.
You have already saved enough. Nice work.
Saving a month, you will get there in , around .
Save a month for to get there by .
Save this as a goalHow it works
An emergency fund covers essential costs if your income stops or a big unexpected bill arrives. The target is your essential monthly expenses multiplied by the number of months you want covered.
Three months is a common minimum. Six months or more makes sense if your income is irregular, you are the only earner in your household, or your job would take a while to replace.
The time to build it uses the same method as the savings goal calculator: what is left, divided by your monthly amount and rounded up to whole months.
Example
Essential expenses of $2,500 a month with 6 months of cover gives a target of $15,000. With $3,000 already saved, $12,000 is left.
Saving $500 a month, that takes 24 months (2 years).
Track it for real
To Budget Simply is a free budgeting app: track income and expenses, set category budgets and watch your goals fill up.
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These results are estimates for planning, not financial advice.