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Emergency fund calculator
How much of a safety net do you actually need, and how long until you've built it? Work out your 3 to 6 month buffer from your real essential spending.
Rent or mortgage, food, power, transport, insurance, minimum debt payments. Not the fun stuff.
An emergency fund is a cash buffer for the unexpected: a job loss, a car repair, a vet bill. Most guidance is 3 to 6 months of essential spending, kept somewhere you can reach it quickly.
Enter your essential monthly spending to see how big your emergency fund should be, and how long it'll take to build. For example, $3,000 a month of essentials means a fund of $9,000 to $18,000.
Pure arithmetic on the numbers you enter. Amounts are in Australian dollars. Free, no ads, and it runs in your browser: what you type isn't sent to us unless you choose to share a result. Spotted a mistake? Let us know. In New Zealand? Use the NZ version.
Questions, answered
- How much should my emergency fund be?
- A common rule of thumb is 3 to 6 months of essential spending: rent or mortgage, food, power, transport, insurance and minimum debt repayments. Lean towards 6 months if your income varies or you're the only earner.
- Where should I keep it?
- Somewhere separate from your everyday account but easy to reach the day you need it, such as a savings account. The point is quick access, not the highest return.
- Is my data stored anywhere?
- No. It all runs in your browser. The only thing that touches our servers is the URL you create with 'Copy share link', which contains just the numbers you entered.