How much can I spend per day?

How the number is worked out

(money available now − bills due before your next income − amount to set aside) ÷ days until your next income

Days are counted the way the Spentalot app counts them: today included, payday not, because money that lands on payday can’t pay for the days before it. Choose “Count to month end” and the last day of the month counts too. The result is rounded down to the cent, so it never tells you a cent more than you have.

One difference from the app: the app works in calendar months, so when your next income falls in the next month, it counts to the end of this one. This calculator counts to the day before your payday.

A worked example

It’s 26 September. You have €2,376.45 in your account. Rent, utilities and Netflix still have to leave before your next income: €982.00 in all. The next income lands on 1 October, so the money has to last five days, 26 to 30 September.

(€2,376.45 − €982.00) ÷ 5 = €278.89 a day. These are the amounts the calculator opens with.

Why the set-aside comes off first

Money you mean to save is not money to spend, so it leaves the pot before the division, like a bill. It isn’t spent, though: it has moved somewhere harder to reach. More on that in Money you set aside is not money you spent.