Instrument · Emergency fund

Your emergency fund, in months.

Add up a month of essentials and choose how many months to cover. See your goal, how much of it you already have, and the month you get there at what you can save.

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Your emergency fund goal

$7,800

19% of the goal saved

Covering 3 months of essentials takes $7,800. You have $1,500 put aside, enough for 0.6 months. Saving $400 a month from December 2026, you get there in March 2028, after 16 months.

A month of essentials

Rent or mortgage

Food and groceries

BillsEnergy, water, phone, internet, insurance.

TransportFuel, fares, car costs.

Debt minimumsThe least you must pay on cards and loans.

The plan

Months of coverMost advice says 3 to 6. More if your income is irregular or others rely on it. 3 months

Saved for it now

You can save a month

The arithmetic

A month of essentials is what you must pay even in a bad month: a roof, food, bills, getting to work and the minimum on every debt. Times the months you want covered, that is the goal. What is left to save, divided by what you can put aside each month and rounded up, is how many months it takes.

A month of essentials1,400 + 500 + 300 + 250 + 150 = $2,600 a month
The goal$2,600 × 3 months = $7,800. Three to six months: $7,800 to $15,600
The time it takes$7,800 − $1,500 = $6,300 to go. $6,300 ÷ $400 = 15.75, rounded up to 16 months: March 2028

Your cash, counted in months.

Tally's Net worth screen does this sum with your own numbers: the cash you hold, divided by what you have actually spent in a month, measured over up to 90 days of your own spending. It appears once Tally has four weeks of it. Every morning Tally also shows what is safe to spend today, with the bills due in the next seven days already set aside.

See your months in Tally

Free to download. Tally Pro starts with a 7-day free trial. For iPhone.

Said plainly

This page is a simplification.

Three to six months is a rule of thumb. Lean toward six, or more, if your income changes from month to month, you work for yourself, one income carries the household or someone depends on you. Toward three if your job is steady and nobody relies on your pay.
Essentials, not everything you spend. The fund is for the months you cut back, so it counts only what you could not stop paying. Eating out and most subscriptions are left out on purpose.
No interest is added. The date assumes the money sits still. Interest on an easy-access savings account would bring it a little closer, never further away.
Nothing you type here leaves this page. The sums are worked out in your browser. There is no account, and nothing you enter is stored.

Questions

How much should an emergency fund be?

Most advice says three to six months of essential costs. If rent, food, bills, transport and debt minimums come to $2,600 a month, three months is $7,800 and six months is $15,600. Aim for the higher end if your income is irregular or others rely on it.

What counts as an essential expense?

What you would still have to pay in a month with no income: rent or mortgage, groceries, energy, water, phone, insurance, getting to work and the minimum payment on every debt. Eating out, holidays and subscriptions you could cancel are not essentials.

How long does it take to build an emergency fund?

Take what you have saved away from the goal, divide by what you can put aside each month, and round up. A $7,800 goal with $1,500 saved leaves $6,300. At $400 a month that is 15.75, so 16 months.