Wondering where your money goes each month? I've designed this simple, interactive non-essentials spending calculator to track how those minor everyday spends drain your cash over the course of a single year and show you exactly how much future freedom could be saved if you chose to cut back on a few minor luxuries.
While entering your monthly take-home pay is completely optional, doing so unlocks a dynamic percentage tool and visual chart dashboard. Scroll below the total amounts at the bottom of the form to see the percentages broken down against your annual income. If your percentages read 0%, don't forget to enter your Annual Gross Salary at the top as the form needs this value to calculate them.
Once you have your final figures, you can choose to take those accumulated annual totals and plug them straight into the mortgage overpayment calculator or just come back in 3 or 6 months and do a comparison on your spending.
If you want to know what the UK spends on average on every single item in this calculator click here
Here by mistake? Looking for the mortgage overpayment calculator?
The Strict Witch Says:
"Before you touch this calculator, leave your excuses at the door. If you log £0 for takeaways when you know you bought three this week, you’re only lying to yourself! Be honest, get the real numbers, and let’s fix this."
Enter your average take-home pay if you want to know what percentage of your income the spends add up to (optional).
Enter the quantity and £ amount (use an average for non consistent priced items) against any category that applies to you (skip what doesn't).
Select whether the amount is Daily, Weekly, Monthly, or Yearly.
Add any additional items that you need to based on your lifestyle by clicking the blue button.
For those irregular costs, like a hair cut every 6 weeks, it would be easiest to log half the cost as a monthly cost, alternatively, times your hair cut cost x 8.5 and add that as an annual amount. It's up to you whatever way is easier for you to calculate an amount that most accurately reflects this spend.
All the numbers you enter are completely anonymous, I don't keep your email address so don't worry about what amounts or items you log. The whole purpose of this calculator is to provide you with an accurate calculation of your annual non essential spending.
Immediately see how much is being spent on non essentials and easily identify areas where you could cut back or stop buying to free up some cash.
Scroll down the calculator window to see this information reflected in pictoral form, and lastly at the end, you can enter your email address to get a copy of the numbers sent to you.
Note: This calculator strictly excludes rent, mortgages, utility bills, or debt repayments - those are your essentials.
Have more questions about this calculator? Check out the Q&A page
Important Notes About This Tool
Absolute Privacy : I do not track or store your financial information against your personal identity. Any numbers you input into these fields are handled with absolute confidentiality and are saved on a completely anonymous basis solely to analyse aggregate spending trends. Your results are for your personal use to help you clearly see where your money is going, and to help demonstrate that even small amounts spent every day (think meal deal, or a coffee), add up to quite a lot over the course of a year. A small individual cost rarely registers, but when multiplied by a year's worth of spending, it quickly becomes a highly significant number.
Email Results : You can optionally enter your email address to have your current spending report sent straight to your inbox. Alternatively, you can simply refresh the page to reset the tracker, and the data is gone.
Built for the Masses : This form is designed to fit everyday UK households. The list of items isn't exhaustive, which is why I’ve included a clickable button after all the standard items for you to add blank fields for your unique lifestyle habits, hidden subscriptions, or niche hobbies.
The Strict Witch Says : "You can enter wrong amounts, or ignore spends entirely if you want to, but if you aren't going to face your numbers with absolute honesty, I question why you are wasting your time filling in the form at all."
Ready to take control of your numbers? Choose your next step:
Use the toolkit calculators on the home page to map out your full household balances, or jump straight into My Financial Reality to read the real-world stories behind my early retirement.