Shop › Budget planner
Emergency fund calculator
Your emergency fund goal is a few months of essential expenses. Enter your budget to see your number and timeline. Enter your take-home pay and what you spend. See your 50/30/20 split, which categories run over typical guidelines, and how long your emergency fund will take, free.
How much is enough?
A common guideline is three to six months of essential expenses: housing, utilities, food, transportation, insurance and minimum payments. Single-income households or irregular earners often aim for the higher end.
Where to keep it
Somewhere safe and easy to reach but separate from everyday checking, such as a savings account, so it isn't spent by accident.
Building it faster
Automate a transfer on payday, put windfalls like tax refunds straight into it, and start with a smaller first goal such as $1,000 or one month of expenses.
Questions
Should I pay off debt or build an emergency fund first?
Many people build a small starter fund first so a surprise bill doesn't go on a card, then focus on high-interest debt. Your situation may differ; this is not financial advice.
What counts as an emergency?
Job loss, medical bills, urgent car or home repairs. Planned expenses like holidays are better saved for separately.
How is the timeline calculated?
Goal minus what you've saved, divided by what you save each month (your savings category plus any money left unassigned), rounded up.
More free tools: Debt snowball calculator · Debt avalanche calculator · Credit card payoff calculator · 50/30/20 budget calculator · SPF and DMARC checker · Security headers checker · Website security check · Debt payoff planner · Budget planner