How it works
Start with your essential monthly spending: what you must pay even in a bad month. That means rent or mortgage, food, utilities, insurance, transport to work and the minimum payment on every debt. Leave out holidays, eating out and investing.
emergency fund = essential monthly spending × months of cover
months to goal = (emergency fund - saved so far) / monthly savingThe months to goal are rounded up to whole months.
How many months
There is no single right number. The calculator suggests one as a starting point: three months, plus one if your household has a single income, plus one if others depend on you, plus three if your income varies, as it does for many freelancers and people paid on commission. That gives three to eight months. Change it if your situation calls for more or less, for example if your job would be hard to replace or you have large fixed costs.
A worked example
Your essentials come to 2,000 a month and you choose six months of cover, so the target is 2,000 × 6 = 12,000. You have 5,000 saved, which covers 2.5 months, and you add 400 a month. The gap is 7,000, and 7,000 / 400 = 17.5, so it takes 18 months to finish.
Where to keep it
- In an easy-access savings account, separate from your everyday account, so you do not spend it by accident.
- Not in shares or crypto. An emergency fund must be there at full value on the day you need it, which is often when markets are down too.
- In the EU, bank deposits are protected up to 100,000 euros per person per bank. Other countries have their own schemes and limits.
Read the full emergency fund guide. If you have debts with high interest, the debt payoff calculator helps you plan both at once.