---
title: "Emergency Fund Calculator: How Much to Save | Stable Harvest"
description: "Add up your essential monthly costs, pick 3 to 12 months of cover and see your emergency fund target, the gap and a monthly plan to fill it. Free."
url: https://stableharvest.bond/emergency-fund-calculator/
---

# Emergency fund calculator

List the bills you would still have to pay if your income stopped tomorrow, choose how many months to cover, and see your target, what is left to save and a monthly plan to get there.

## How much is enough?

Target = essential monthly costs × months of cover

Count only what you could not stop paying: housing, food, utilities, getting to work, insurance, medicine, child care and the minimum payments on debts. Leave out what you would cut in a crisis, such as eating out or subscriptions. The gap is the target minus what you have already set aside, and the monthly plan spreads that gap over the months you choose.

A widely used rule of thumb is three to six months of essential costs. The Federal Reserve's yearly survey of household finances asks whether people have emergency savings that would cover three months of expenses, and the University of Connecticut's extension service calls at least six months a common goal. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau stresses that the right amount depends on your situation and that even a small fund helps. A single income, irregular earnings or dependants are reasons people choose the longer end; the calculator lets you try each.

**Example:** essentials of $2,370 a month for 6 months make a $14,220 target. With $4,000 saved, $10,220 is left, or $567.78 a month for 18 months. The silo fills to what you have now; the strip shows it against the 3–6 month range.

## Sources

- Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, [An essential guide to building an emergency fund](https://www.consumerfinance.gov/an-essential-guide-to-building-an-emergency-fund/).
- Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System, [Report on the Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households: adults with three months of emergency savings](https://www.federalreserve.gov/consumerscommunities/sheddataviz/emergency-savings.html).
- UConn Extension, Financial Education and Literacy, [Why Everyone Needs An Emergency Fund](https://financialliteracy.extension.uconn.edu/saving-for-a-rainy-day-your-emergency-fund/).

## Questions

**Should I use my income or my costs?**

Costs. The fund has to pay the bills while income is missing, and essential costs are usually well below take-home pay, so the target is smaller and more reachable than a multiple of salary.

**Where should the money be kept?**

This site does not recommend accounts or providers. The point of the fund is that you can reach it quickly when something goes wrong, so check the access rules, any penalties and the deposit insurance of whichever account you use.

**Is my list of costs saved?**

No. Your costs are used only while the page is open and are never sent anywhere. Copy or print the plan if you want to keep it.