Ruby Lizon-Walker

By Ruby Lizon-Walker

11/12/2023

An emergency fund calculator is a great way to ensure you’ve got exactly the right amount of money put aside in case of an emergency. Whether it’s redundancy, illness, or simply a broken appliance, essential and costly repairs can be the nail in the coffin of your well-prepared monthly budget.

This calculator will help you figure out how long it’ll take to build your emergency fund, and how much you’ll need to stay afloat for anywhere between 1 and 360 months (30 years) based on your current outgoings.

This is a UK emergency fund calculator in GBP; for an emergency fund calculator in USD, visit our partner site, savings.com.

Emergency Fund Calculator FAQs

What is an emergency fund used for?

An emergency fund is money put aside for exceptional financial circumstances. For example, this could be loss of a job or redundancy, damage to the home in case of flash flooding, or any other unforeseen circumstance that greatly increases how much you need to cover your outgoings.

An emergency fund is different from your savings because typically the emergency fund is a singular static amount of money based on your current situation, and savings are perpetually increasing according to inflation and how much disposable income you have. Savings typically do not have a fixed contributions end date, whereas a six month or three month emergency fund does.


How much should my emergency fund be?

The ideal emergency fund amount for you will vary based on your outgoings. The total figure should take into account:

  1. Mortgage or rent payments
  2. Bills
  3. Food
  4. Car expenses
  5. Debt repayments
  6. Non-cancellable subscriptions


To be very thorough, your emergency fund could also consider:

  • Charity donations
  • Entertainment
  • Other subscriptions
  • Travel fund saving

Use the tips on this page to find out how to calculate your emergency fund, and use our emergency savings fund calculator above to make it easier than ever to factor a rainy day fund into your personal finances.


What is a good emergency fund?

While it’s all well and good knowing how much your personal emergency fund should be, sometimes it’s helpful to know what others are doing. According to banks NatWest and HSBC, your emergency fund should be between three and six times your monthly expenses. It can be helpful to think of this as either the same as or less than your monthly salary after tax.

However, research by Hargreaves Lansdown in 2021 showed that of a sample of over 10,000 people, over fifty percent of adults (51%) did not have enough emergency savings. If you are only just starting to put together your emergency fund, not to worry, you are not alone.


What age do I need to start building an emergency fund, and how much emergency fund should I have for my age?

Since emergencies can happen at any age, it is never too early (or too late) to start building up your emergency fund. An emergency savings calculator like this one can help you figure out how much emergency fund you may need. Since the total is based on your outgoings, this has less to do with your age and more to do with factors like number of mortgages (if any), number of children (if any) and so on.


How much should I add to my emergency fund per month?

Once you know how much your emergency fund should be in total, use the Savoo savings calculator savings calculator to figure out how long it will take to fill up your pot at your current savings investment rate. You can also use our calculator to find out how much your current savings amount will need to increase or decrease to meet your emergency savings total by a particular goal year.

Remember: the savings calculator does not include calculations on the same outgoings as the emergency fund calculator and can therefore be used to supplement, not replace, the emergency calculator.


Can I get emergency fund help from the government?

We are a money-saving site and our money-saving help is intended to be taken as suggestions and pointers, rather than advice. For financial guidance and assistance in times of hardship, here are some resources from the UK government:

More saving guidance we offer at Savoo can be found in our Cost of Living Guide. You can also use our inflation calculator to see how your savings have stood the test of time, and how your rainy day funds might need to increase or decrease in value over time based on historical rates.

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