Personal Cash Flow Calculator

Work out monthly surplus or deficit after income, fixed costs, variable spending and debt.

About Personal Cash Flow Calculator

The result is the signed sum of its components: positive items are added and deductions subtracted. Expressing it as a share of the positive components shows how much of the gross figure survives to the bottom line. Working the personal cash flow up from its components makes clear which line is moving it, which a single headline number hides.

Formula

Personal Cash Flow

Monthly Cash Flow = Net monthly income − Housing costs − Food, transport and utilities − Debt repayments − Discretionary spending − Automatic savings and investing

Net monthly income: Component of the personal cash flow
Housing costs: Component of the personal cash flow
Food, transport and utilities: Component of the personal cash flow
Debt repayments: Component of the personal cash flow
Discretionary spending: Component of the personal cash flow
Automatic savings and investing: Component of the personal cash flow

Worked example

With the default values below, Personal Cash Flow Calculator returns Monthly Cash Flow of 330.00. Change any input above and every figure here is recalculated in your browser.

Inputs used

Net monthly income: 4,200
Housing costs: 1,400
Food, transport and utilities: 750
Debt repayments: 420
Discretionary spending: 600
Automatic savings and investing: 700

Results

Monthly Cash Flow: 330.00
Total Positive Components: 4,200.00
Total Deductions: 3,870.00
Result as Share of Positive Components: 7.86%
Verdict: Positive — the components net to a surplus

Step by step

1Values used
2Personal Cash Flow
3Monthly Cash Flow= 330.00
4Total Positive Components= 4,200.00
5Total Deductions= 3,870.00
6Result as Share of Positive Components= 7.86
7Verdict= Positive — the components net to a surplus

Assumptions and limits

The result is derived only from the 6 inputs listed above. Anything not among them is not part of the calculation.
In particular, this calculator does not take inflation, tax or compounding frequency into account.
Figures are rounded for display to 2 decimal places, so totals built from several rounded parts can differ slightly from the unrounded arithmetic.
This is an estimate for general information and not professional financial, tax or legal advice. See the full disclaimer for the limits that apply to this kind of calculator.

How these calculators are built and tested is described on the Methodology page. If a figure looks wrong, please report it.

Frequently Asked Questions

How is Personal Cash Flow calculated?

Monthly Cash Flow = Net monthly income − Housing costs − Food, transport and utilities − Debt repayments − Discretionary spending − Automatic savings and investing The result is the signed sum of its components: positive items are added and deductions subtracted. Expressing it as a share of the positive components shows how much of the gross figure survives to the bottom line.

Why does Personal Cash Flow matter?

Working the personal cash flow up from its components makes clear which line is moving it, which a single headline number hides.

What values do I need to enter?

This calculator takes 6 inputs: Net monthly income, Housing costs, Food, transport and utilities, Debt repayments, Discretionary spending, Automatic savings and investing. The pre-filled defaults are a realistic starting point — replace them with figures from your own environment for a result you can act on.