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Emergency fund calculator

Set a target from your own essential costs, see how many months you’re covered for today, and how long it’ll take to get where you want to be.

  • No sign-up. Figures stay in your browser.
  • Reviewed
Example figures

An emergency fund is money set aside for the unexpected: losing income, a broken boiler, an urgent repair. This calculator sizes it from the costs you’d still have to pay if your income stopped. Replace the example figures with your own.

Your essential costs£1,680 a month

Count what you couldn’t stop paying: housing, bills, food, getting about, insurance and the minimum on any debts. Leave out spending you’d cut in an emergency.

How to enter your essential costs

Enter your yearly bill and choose Yearly.

Getting to work, school and appointments.

The least you must pay each month, not the balance.

Prescriptions, school costs, pet food.

Your fund

How many months of essential costs you’d want to cover. There’s no single right number.

Only money you could use in an emergency.

Leave blank to leave interest out.

Your target £5,040See results

Your path, one month of cover at a time

Each step is another month of essential costs saved. Reaching the first one is worth celebrating: it’s a cushion most surprises fit inside.

    Bar length shows how long each step takes from today, at your current saving rate.

    Your essential costs, monthly and annual

    Every cost converted to monthly and annual figures, with its share of your essentials.

    Essential costs, monthly and annual
    CostMonthlyAnnualShare of essentials
    Enter your costs above to build the table.

    How many months to choose

    There’s no official number. These questions can help you decide what feels secure for you.

    • How secure is your income? If your pay varies, you’re self-employed or your job could end at short notice, more months give you more time.
    • Does anyone depend on you? Children or others relying on your income are a reason to aim higher.
    • Is yours the only income? A household with two earners may be able to cover essentials if one income stops.
    • Could a big repair land on you? Homeowners and car owners face bills a landlord or lease would otherwise cover.
    • Where are you starting from? If the target feels out of reach, set one month of cover as a first goal. The chart above shows when you’ll reach it.

    How the calculator works

    No rates, rules of thumb or estimates are built in. Every result comes from the figures you enter, using the arithmetic below.

    1. Your essential costs as a monthly figure

    Each cost is converted to a yearly amount (weekly × 52, every 4 weeks × 13, monthly × 12, yearly × 1) and divided by 12. For example, £75 a week is £3,900 a year, or £325 a month.

    2. Your target

    Target = monthly essential costs × months of cover. In the example, £1,680 × 3 = £5,040.

    3. Cover you have today

    Cover = already saved ÷ monthly essential costs. £1,000 ÷ £1,680 = 0.6 months.

    4. Time to reach the target

    Starting from what you’ve saved, each month adds interest and then your monthly amount, until the balance reaches the target. The result is rounded up to a whole month: £4,040 still to save at £150 a month takes 27 months, because 26 months would leave you £140 short.

    If you enter an interest rate, it’s treated as an Annual Equivalent Rate (AER) and converted to a monthly rate: (1 + AER)1/12 − 1. Interest is added monthly, and no tax is deducted.

    5. Milestones and the £50 comparison

    Each milestone is the same sum for one, two, three months of cover and so on. The comparison reruns step 4 with £50 more each month.

    The calculation code is published with the page and covered by automated tests.

    Assumptions and limitations

    Read these before relying on the result.

    • Costs stay the same. Prices rise over time, so revisit your target at least once a year.
    • The interest rate stays the same. Real easy-access rates change, and the result ignores any tax on interest.
    • Other support isn’t counted. Redundancy pay, sick pay, insurance or benefits could help in an emergency, but they’re not included.
    • The money must be reachable. Only count savings you could get to within days, not money locked into a fixed-term account or a pension.
    • It isn’t financial advice. If you’re deciding between saving and repaying debt, free, impartial guidance is available from MoneyHelper.

    Where to keep it

    Most people keep an emergency fund in an easy-access savings account, separate from their current account so it isn’t spent by accident. Savings with a UK-authorised bank, building society or credit union are protected by the Financial Services Compensation Scheme up to £120,000 per eligible person, per authorised firm. That limit has applied since 1 December 2025.1

    1. Deposit protection limit, Financial Services Compensation Scheme. Checked 13 October 2026.

    Questions

    What counts as an essential cost?

    Anything you’d still have to pay if your income stopped tomorrow: rent or mortgage, Council Tax, energy, water, food, getting to work, insurance, childcare and the minimum repayments on any debts. Spending you could pause, such as eating out or subscriptions, is left out.

    Should I build an emergency fund or pay off debt first?

    It depends on what your debts cost and how they’re set up. Many people keep a small cushion while repaying debt, so an unexpected bill doesn’t go straight onto a credit card. For guidance on your situation, MoneyHelper is free and impartial.

    Is anything I type saved or sent anywhere?

    No. Everything is worked out in your browser. Nothing is stored, so refreshing or closing the page clears your figures. To keep a copy, use Print or save as PDF.

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