Tool · Calculator
Emergency Fund Calculator
Work out how many months of essential expenses your savings can cover and the gap to your target. Australian dollars, set your own months of cover.
Enter your monthly essential expenses, your current savings, and how many months of cover you want to hold. The calculator shows how many months you can already cover and the dollar gap between where you are and your target.
Emergency Fund
Calculate how much you need to cover essential expenses during emergencies.
Recommended fund (6 months cover)
$18,000
Gap to reach the goal
$13,000
Save $13,000 more to hit your 6-month goal.
This is the calculator I use to sanity-check my own numbers. It gives estimates, not advice - what to do with the result is yours to work out.
Frequently asked questions
- How much should I have in an emergency fund?
- A common guideline is three to six months of essential expenses - rent or mortgage, food, utilities, transport, and insurance. If your income is stable and easily replaced you might aim lower, and if you're self-employed, on a single income, or in an insecure job you might aim higher. The point is to cover the gap if your income stops, not to fund your whole lifestyle.
- What counts as an essential expense?
- The bills you'd still have to pay if you lost your income: housing, groceries, utilities, transport, insurance, minimum debt repayments, and any medical or care costs. Leave out discretionary spending like dining out, holidays, and subscriptions - in a genuine emergency you'd pause those, so sizing the fund around essentials keeps the target realistic.
- Where should I keep my emergency fund?
- Somewhere safe and quick to access, not somewhere you might have to sell at a loss in a hurry. A high-interest savings account kept separate from your everyday spending account is the usual choice in Australia - it stays liquid, it's protected, and the separation reduces the temptation to dip into it for non-emergencies.
- Should I build an emergency fund before paying off debt?
- Many people build a small starter buffer first, often around one month of essentials, so a surprise bill doesn't push them straight back onto a credit card, then attack high-interest debt, then finish building the full fund. The right order depends on how secure your income is and how expensive your debt is. This tool just shows you where you stand against your chosen target.