Calculator

Emergency Fund Calculator

Work out how much cash you should have set aside, based on your real monthly costs.

Monthly essentials

Enter only the costs you couldn’t cut overnight if you lost your income. Subscriptions, holidays and takeaways don’t belong here — the point is to see what you actually need to survive on.

Rent or mortgageThe roof. Non-negotiable.

£/ mo

Bills & utilitiesCouncil tax, energy, water, broadband, phone, insurance.

£/ mo

Food & groceriesWeekly shop, not restaurants.

£/ mo

TransportCommute, car insurance, fuel or season tickets.

£/ mo

Minimum debt paymentsCredit cards, loans, BNPL — the floor, not the optimal payoff.

£/ mo

Other essentialsChildcare, healthcare, anything you literally can’t skip.

£/ mo

How many months of cover?

3 months is a common starting point. Go to 6+ if your income is irregular, you’re self-employed, or you’re a single earner in your household.

What you’ve already savedCash you can access within 24 hours.

How this is worked out

Target = essential monthly outgoings × number of months. The point of an emergency fund is to cover survival costs while you fix something — a job loss, a boiler failure, a medical issue.

Keep it in instant-access cash. A premium bonds account or easy-access savings account is fine; a stocks & shares ISA is not, because the worst time to sell is during the kind of market drop that often coincides with people losing their jobs.

Once you’re covered, redirect what you would have been saving into your pension, ISA, or paying down high-interest debt.

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Educational only. Not personal financial advice. Tax-year figures may change; check periodically.

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Tax year 2026/27 · Last reviewed 23 May 2026 · Educational only, not personal financial advice