Start with your budget or your business loan
Use the budget calculator for your household. List your monthly costs, mark each one as a need, a want, or savings and debt, and compare the result with 50/30/20, 60/20/20, 70/20/10, or your own targets. It also shows how many months your emergency fund would last.
Use the business loan calculator for a company. It finds the payment and true APR on a term loan, converts a factor rate into an APR, models a balloon or interest-only period, and checks your debt service coverage ratio (DSCR).
A sensible order for each
For a budget:
- Get your real take-home from the paycheck calculator, since 50/30/20 is based on take-home pay and not salary.
- Enter what you actually spend, and divide irregular bills by 12.
- Send what's left to savings or debt, using the savings calculator or debt payoff calculator.
The guide to building a budget that holds covers irregular expenses, emergency funds, and income that changes every month.
For a business loan:
- Enter the offer and all its fees to see the true APR.
- Add your net operating income to see the DSCR. With $40,000 of income, the loan above comes to 1.32.
- Compare other offers with the APR calculator, and test the purchase with the ROI calculator.
The numbers that can mislead you
In a budget, watch your savings rate. The calculator's figure includes money you haven't assigned yet, and unassigned money tends to get spent. In a business loan, watch the factor rate. It looks like a small percentage, but a short repayment period can turn it into a very high APR.
If you can't cover essentials, a nonprofit credit counselor can help at little or no cost. For a business, SCORE mentors advise at no cost.
More tools for small business and everyday money
- Running a business: the break-even calculator finds the sales you need, the profit margin calculator separates margin from markup, the NPV and IRR calculator compares projects, and the depreciation calculator builds asset schedules.
- Working for yourself: the freelance rate calculator sets a rate that covers tax and unbilled time.
- Protecting your family: the life insurance calculator estimates coverage using two common rules of thumb.
- Everyday prices: the sales tax, tip, and discount calculators handle the arithmetic at the register.
For a longer walk-through, read How to build a budget that holds.