Emergency Budget Calculator
Build a survival budget by separating essential from optional expenses
How do I cut my budget after a layoff?
Start by splitting spending into essential (housing, utilities, food, insurance, minimum debt payments, transportation) and optional(subscriptions, dining out, travel, upgrades). In a layoff, pause or cut the optional column first — that's where most people free up $400–$1,000+ a month without touching necessities.
Your survival budget is the essential total — the number your savings, severance, and unemployment need to cover each month. Lowering it directly extends your runway. Build yours below, then see how many months you have with the Layoff Runway Calculator.
- Estimated time
- 5–7 minutes
- Cost / impact
- Free · most people free up $400–$1,000+ / month
- What you need
- Your monthly bills, split into must-pay vs optional
Emergency Budget Builder
Enter your monthly costs to find your survival budget and how much you can cut
Why trust this calculator?
- Designed by Deepak Middha, a Chartered Accountant and finance educator
- Built using publicly available guidance and documented assumptions
- An educational planning tool — not personalized financial or legal advice
- Reviewed and updated regularly
- Privacy friendly — inputs stay in your browser
- Methodology is published and open to read
- Known limitations are documented, not hidden
How to Build Your Emergency Budget
Step 1: List All Expenses
Track everything you spend money on, from housing to subscriptions. Be honest about discretionary spending.
Step 2: Categorize as Essential or Optional
Essential: Housing, food, utilities, insurance, transportation to job interviews.
Optional: Dining out, entertainment, subscriptions, gym memberships, hobbies.
Step 3: Identify Quick Wins
Subscriptions, streaming services, and dining out are the easiest to cut immediately. You can save hundreds per month.
Step 4: Calculate Your Runway
Use your emergency budget + severance + unemployment to calculate how long your savings will last. Use our Runway Calculator.
Quick Expense Cuts to Consider
Easy to Cut (0-1 week)
- • Cancel subscriptions ($50-100/mo)
- • Stop dining out ($200-300/mo)
- • Pause entertainment ($100-200/mo)
- • Total savings: $350-600/mo
Moderate Cuts (1-2 weeks)
- • Reduce utilities usage ($20-50/mo)
- • Pause gym ($30-100/mo)
- • Reduce groceries ($50-150/mo)
- • Total savings: $100-300/mo
Sample Emergency Budgets by Situation
Single person in medium-cost city
Family of 4 with mortgage
Frequently Asked Questions
How much should I budget for food?+
What if I can't cut my rent/mortgage?+
Should I keep my car payment?+
What about healthcare costs?+
Healthcare is essential — include COBRA, Marketplace, or out-of-pocket medical costs in your budget. Use the COBRA vs Marketplace Calculator to estimate and compare your options.
Related LayoffNext Tools
Keep the momentum going with the tools people use most alongside this guide.
Important Disclaimer
This calculator provides sample budgets for educational purposes only. Your actual expenses will vary significantly based on location, family size, and personal circumstances. These are not official recommendations but general guidelines. Build your own budget based on your actual spending.
Deepak Middha is the founder of LayoffNext and a Chartered Accountant (ICAI, India). A U.S. immigrant with nearly 20 years of experience — and 17 years in hedge fund and private equity administration, including as Vice President of Fund Accounting at NAV Fund Administration Group and Associate Director of Private Equity and Real Estate at SS&C Technologies — he builds free, plain-language layoff tools and guides for employees, H-1B workers, and immigrant families.