How much can I safely spend until payday?
Find out what you can spend each day until your next payday without touching money meant for bills, debts or savings. No sign-up, and nothing leaves your browser.
Your month
We've filled in an example — replace it with your numbers.
What lands in your account after tax.
Rent, utilities, phone, subscriptions, insurance.
Credit cards, loans, buy now pay later.
What you want to put aside before spending.
Day-to-day spending since your last payday.
Late-month paydays move to the last day in short months.
Only changes formatting.
Safe to spend per day
How it works
The calculator starts with your monthly take-home pay and takes away everything that's already spoken for: bills and fixed costs, minimum debt payments, and the amount you want to save. What remains is your spending money for the whole pay cycle.
Next it subtracts what you've already spent since your last payday. That leaves the amount that is safe to spend for the rest of the cycle.
Your pay cycle runs from payday to the day before your next payday. Using today's date and your payday, the calculator counts the days left, including today, and divides the remaining money evenly across them to give a daily amount. If you're paid on the 29th, 30th or 31st, months that are shorter move payday to their last day.
If your fixed costs and savings are more than your pay, or you've already spent more than the cycle allows, the daily amount shows as zero and the calculator tells you how far over you are. A daily figure is easier to stick to than a monthly one: spend less today and tomorrow's amount goes up.
Frequently asked questions
What does “safe to spend” mean?
It's the money left from your pay after your bills, debt payments and savings goal are covered. Spending within it means you won't dip into money that's already promised elsewhere before your next payday.
Should I count bills I've already paid this month?
Yes. Enter your full monthly bills and debt payments, paid or not. Only put day-to-day spending — groceries, eating out, transport, shopping — in “already spent”, so nothing is counted twice.
What if my pay changes from month to month?
Use a cautious figure, such as your lowest take-home pay from the last few months. If a month turns out better, the extra can go to savings or debt instead of being spent by default.
Is anything I enter stored?
No. The calculation runs in your browser and nothing you type is sent anywhere. A free Calm Coins account can keep the figures for you and update your safe-to-spend as you log spending.
Track this automatically — Calm Coins is free
Calm Coins works out your safe-to-spend automatically from payday to payday, updates it every time you log a purchase and keeps your bills, debts and savings in view.