Budget calculator
Work out what is genuinely left each month after essential living costs. It is the single figure every debt solution is built on, and getting it right matters more than anything else you do.
You never have to pay for debt advice. MoneyHelper (government-backed), StepChange, National Debtline and Citizens Advice all give free, confidential advice with no obligation. We would rather you got good advice somewhere than bad advice from anyone.
Money coming in each month
After tax, monthly.
Essential costs each month
Essentials only — do not include credit cards, loans or catalogue payments here. Those are what the surplus has to cover.
Why this one number decides almost everything
Every debt solution in Britain is built on your monthly surplus. It sets whether a Debt Relief Order is even possible — the threshold is £75 a month or less. It sets what an IVA payment could be, and therefore whether creditors would vote for one. It sets how long a Debt Management Plan would run. An adviser will produce this figure in the first ten minutes of any appointment, and if it is wrong the whole arrangement built on it will fail later.
The mistake almost everyone makes
Underestimating annual and irregular costs. Car tax, MOT, insurance renewals, replacing a washing machine, school uniform, Christmas, a boiler service, dentistry. These are real and they arrive whether or not your budget allowed for them. Add up what you spend on them across a year and divide by twelve, then put that figure in "other essentials". A budget that ignores them looks affordable and is not — and an IVA built on it is likely to fail in year two or three.
What this tool does not do
It does not tell you what you are eligible for. It cannot: eligibility depends on your assets, your debts, whether you own property, and a verified income and expenditure assessment carried out by someone qualified to do it. This is a calculator, and it gives you the figure to walk into that conversation with.
Advisers work to the Standard Financial Statement, which has agreed spending guidelines that creditors accept. A free adviser will complete one with you at no cost, and it carries far more weight with creditors than a figure you have worked out yourself.
Want to take this further?
Answer eight questions and we can pass your details to one FCA-authorised debt advice firm, if you want us to. Or read the guides and go to StepChange instead — both are fine with us.
We are a marketing introducer. We publish information and, if you ask us to, we pass your details to an FCA-authorised debt advice firm we work with so they can contact you. We do not give debt advice, we do not provide debt solutions, and we do not decide whether any solution is right for you. We are paid by the firms we introduce people to, never by you. Read exactly how we make money.