Emergency Fund Calculator

What is an emergency fund?

An emergency fund is money set aside for unexpected costs or a fall in income. It is usually intended for costs that cannot wait, such as urgent repairs, essential bills, medical needs, or a period with less work or income. Use this calculator to build a target from the monthly costs you would still need to pay in a genuine emergency.

How much emergency savings should I have?

There is no universal right figure. A common rule of thumb is to aim for three to six months of essential outgoings in an accessible savings account, but a smaller first target can still provide useful protection. The right range depends on income stability, number of earners, dependants, insurance and how easily you could cut costs.

• One month can be a useful first milestone.
• Three months is a common starting range where income is relatively stable.
• Six months is a common longer-term target where one income supports the household or income security is less certain.
• Nine to twelve months may be worth considering where income is irregular, work is seasonal or self-employed, costs are difficult to reduce, or replacing income could take longer.

What counts as essential spending?

Include monthly costs you would still need during an income shock: housing, utilities, basic food, insurance, essential transport, minimum debt payments, essential childcare and necessary medical costs. Leave out optional spending you would normally pause, such as holidays, entertainment and extra debt overpayments.

How to use this calculator

1. Pick your currency at the top of the calculator. It changes formatting only, not the maths.
2. Enter your essential monthly expenses as one Quick total, or switch to Build my essentials to add them up category by category.
3. Choose how many months of essential expenses you want to cover.
4. Enter your current emergency savings and a realistic monthly saving amount.
5. Optionally add a target date to see the monthly saving it would need, or open the profile guide for a suggested planning range.
6. Read your target, funding progress, remaining gap, current months of cover and the milestone timeline.

What do I need to enter?

• Essential monthly expenses — one Quick total, or Build my essentials to add up categories: rent or mortgage, essential utilities, basic groceries, essential insurance, essential transport, minimum debt payments, essential childcare or dependant costs, essential medical or prescription costs and other essentials. Zero or more; blank categories count as 0.
• Months of cover — 1, 3, 6, 9 or 12 months of essential expenses. The default is 6.
• Custom target (months) — optional, 0.5 to 24 in half-month steps. A valid value overrides the buttons.
• Current emergency savings — what you have set aside now, 0 or more.
• Monthly amount you can save — 0 or more. Without it the time to target cannot be estimated.
• Target date — optional month, at least one month ahead. It shows the monthly saving needed to reach the target by then.
• Want a starting range? — tick Show the profile guide (off by default) to answer four questions that give a suggested range of months. It does not change your target.
  • Household income — One income or More than one income.
  • Income pattern — Predictable, Variable or seasonal, or Self-employed or freelance.
  • Dependants — None or One or more.
  • Income protection or strong backup — Yes or No or not sure. The answer starts as No or not sure, and not being sure counts as having no backup.

What do the results show?

• Emergency-fund target — essential monthly expenses × months of cover.
• Emergency savings today — your current savings and the percentage of the target they fund.
• Remaining gap — the target minus your savings, or zero once it is reached.
• Current cover — how many months of essential spending your savings would pay for.
• Monthly saving — the amount you entered, with the time it would take to close the gap.
• Time to your target, savings milestones and savings projection — when you could reach the target, the stages along the way, and the balance month by month.
• Essential-expense breakdown — each category's share of your monthly total, shown when you build your essentials.

How is the target calculated?

The target is your essential monthly expenses multiplied by the number of months of cover you choose. The remaining gap is the target minus what you have already saved, and the time to reach it is that gap divided by your monthly saving amount, rounded up to a whole month.

For example, with essential monthly expenses of £2,000 and a six-month target, the emergency fund target is £12,000. With £3,000 already saved, the gap is £9,000, which is 25% funded and covers about 1.5 months of essential spending. Saving £250 a month closes the £9,000 gap in 36 months — reaching the target during the 36th month, counting the starting month as month 1.

Emergency fund vs sinking fund

An emergency fund is for unknown or unplanned problems. A sinking fund is for known future costs, such as annual insurance, holidays, car servicing, Christmas or planned home work. Keep them separate where possible so foreseeable bills do not drain your emergency buffer.

Where should an emergency fund be held?

Emergency savings are commonly kept somewhere accessible and low risk, rather than in money you may need to sell at a loss or wait to access. The right account depends on your country, tax position, protection limits and personal circumstances. This calculator does not recommend a bank, savings account or investment product.

Once your fund is fully funded, see the Compound Interest Calculator to see how further regular saving or investing could grow over time.

If you are starting from zero

A large target can feel daunting. Start with a smaller, repeatable saving amount and focus on the first month of essential expenses. When you use emergency savings, rebuild the fund when you can rather than treating a withdrawal as failure.

What does this calculator assume?

• The target is a fixed multiple of the essential monthly expenses you enter.
• Your monthly saving amount stays the same every month.
• The plan-start month is treated as your first saving month.
• Version 1 ignores savings interest, account fees, tax, inflation, withdrawals and any change to your expenses over time.
• The optional profile guide is a transparent set of rules. It does not assess your job security, benefits, investments, debt or insurance, and it never changes the target you selected.
• This is a savings illustration based on the figures you enter, not personalised financial advice. If you are struggling with essential bills, focus on getting appropriate independent support.

Frequently asked questions