Emergency fund calculator.
Three to six months is the standard answer. This works out which end of that range is actually yours, how much cover you hold today, and the monthly amount that gets you there.
Free, instant, and no email needed to see your answer. Everything is worked out in your browser — nothing you type is sent to us.
Your number, not a generic one
Three to six months is the range. This works out where in it you belong, and why.
Milestones, not one distant target
£500, one month, three months, six months — each one a real improvement you can feel.
A date, not a hope
Tells you how long your monthly amount takes to close the gap, and what it would take to halve it.
How big should your buffer actually be?
Three to six months is the standard answer. Which end of that range is right for you depends on how steady your income is and who relies on it — so this works out your own number and shows exactly how it got there.
Buzz Money Coach provides money coaching, not regulated financial advice. This calculator is a guidance tool. It does not make a recommendation about any financial product and cannot take account of your full circumstances. Buzz Money Ltd is not authorised by the FCA. Where a decision genuinely needs regulated advice we say so, and can introduce you to Equity & General (FCA No. 474163) — optional, with no obligation.
What this calculator works out
An emergency fund is the boring pot of cash that turns emergencies back into inconveniences. Without one, every unexpected cost — the car, the boiler, the vet — becomes debt, usually expensive debt, and the hole gets deeper each time. With one, the same events are annoying and then over.
The standard answer to ‘how much?’ is three to six months of essential outgoings, held in an instant-access account — that is the guidance from MoneyHelper, the free service run by the government-backed Money and Pensions Service. Three to six is a wide range though, and where you should sit in it depends on how likely your income is to stop and how quickly it would come back. This calculator places you in that range and shows you exactly why.
The method, in full
It starts at three months — the bottom of the standard range — and adds months for the things that make a loss of income more likely, or its consequences worse. The adjustments are these:
- Employed, permanent, feels secure — no addition.
- Employed but fixed-term, on probation or at risk — add one month.
- Self-employed, or income that varies month to month — add one and a half months. Variable income means the buffer is doing two jobs: covering emergencies and smoothing the lean months.
- You are the only earner in the household — add half a month. A second income is itself a form of insurance.
- One other person depends on your income — add half a month; two or more — add one month.
The total is capped at six months, the top of the standard range. Multiply the months by your monthly survival number and that is the target. Divide the cash you already hold by the survival number and that is the cover you have now. The difference is the gap; the gap divided by what you can save each month is how long it takes.
The three-to-six-month range is established guidance and is cited above. The step-by-step adjustment within that range is a Buzz Money Coach rule of thumb, not an official figure — which is exactly why the calculator shows every step of it on screen instead of just handing you an answer. If you think your job is safer or shakier than the categories suggest, override it and use your own judgement. You know your situation; a calculator does not.
The assumptions, stated plainly
- Months are of survival spending, not full spending. Six months of everything you currently spend is a much larger and much more demoralising target than you actually need, because in a real emergency you would cut back anyway.
- No interest is added. The calculator does not assume any growth on your savings. Interest on an instant-access account is real but small, and leaving it out means the answer is never flattering.
- No inflation is applied. Both the target and your saving are in today's money, which keeps the comparison honest over the sort of one-to-three-year horizon most people are working with.
- Cash means cash you can reach this week. Money in a fixed-term bond, a pension, or investments does not count. The whole point of this pot is that it is there, in full, on the worst day — not down twenty per cent exactly when you need it.
- Your figures stay in your browser. Nothing is sent to a server.
Start with £500, not with the target
Six months of expenses is a big, distant number, and aiming straight at it is how people give up in week three. Aim at £500 first. That single first step does most of the psychological work, because £500 covers the large majority of life's small disasters — the tyre, the vet, the emergency plumber — and the moment you have it the low-level dread starts to lift. The calculator shows £500, one month, three months and six months as separate milestones for exactly that reason.
After that, the mechanism matters more than the motivation. Set a standing order for the day after payday, into an account at a different bank from your current account, and let it run. Willpower is finite and runs out by Thursday; a standing order does not get tired. Sweep in the one-offs too — a tax refund, a bonus, birthday money — because those are the fast lane to the first £500.
Where it should sit
Two rules, gently in tension, and both matter. It should be separate from your current account so you do not spend it without noticing, and instant-access so you can actually reach it in an emergency. An easy-access savings account or a cash ISA both do the job. We cannot tell you which account or provider to use — that would be a regulated recommendation and we are not authorised to make one — but the two rules above are not a product choice, they are just how the pot needs to behave.
If you would like to work through your own numbers with a coach, the free Financial Freedom Score takes about seven minutes and gives you one clear next step. Or start with the survival budget calculator if you have not worked out the number this one runs on.
About this calculator
How much should I have in an emergency fund?
The widely used range is three to six months of essential outgoings, held in an instant-access account — that is the guidance from MoneyHelper, the government-backed money guidance service. Three months suits a secure, salaried job with a second income in the household. Six months suits self-employment, variable income, or being the sole earner for a family. This calculator places you within that range and shows every step of the adjustment, so you can override it if your own judgement differs.
Is it three to six months of my salary or my spending?
Neither, quite: it is three to six months of your essential spending — your survival number. Using your salary overstates the target, because your salary includes the money you spend on things you would stop buying in an emergency. Using your full spending overstates it for the same reason. Essentials only is the version that produces a target you might actually reach, which is the version that helps.
Should I build an emergency fund before paying off debt?
The usual sequence is a small starter buffer first, then the expensive debt, then the full fund. The reason is mechanical rather than mathematical: with no buffer at all, the next unexpected bill goes straight back onto the card you have just been paying down, and you never get ahead. A few hundred pounds set aside stops that loop. Once expensive debt is gone, redirect what you were paying on it into the fund — you are already used to living without that money.
Does a credit card count as an emergency fund?
No. A credit card is a bill waiting to happen, not a safety net. It turns a bad week into a worse month, because the emergency is now also a debt with interest running on it. A 0% card or an arranged overdraft can be a sensible bridge in a genuine crisis, but neither is a substitute for cash you own. The distinction matters most precisely when you are least able to think clearly about it.
Where does the three-to-six-month range come from?
It is long-standing consumer guidance rather than a rule or a regulation. MoneyHelper, run by the Money and Pensions Service, sets it out as a rule of thumb: aim to have three to six months' essential outgoings available in an instant-access savings account, while noting that even one month's outgoings protects you against some shocks. The step-by-step adjustment this calculator applies within that range is our own coaching rule of thumb, which is why it is shown in full on the results panel.
Is this financial advice?
No. Buzz Money Coach provides money coaching, not regulated financial advice. This calculator does arithmetic on the figures you enter and explains its method. It does not recommend a savings account, a provider or any other financial product, and it cannot take account of your full circumstances. Buzz Money Ltd is not authorised by the FCA. Where a decision genuinely needs a regulated recommendation we say so, and can introduce you to Equity & General, authorised and regulated by the FCA (No. 474163), with no obligation.
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