Disposable Income Calculator UK: What's Left After Bills?
Your salary isn't your spending money. Turn it into take-home pay, take off the essentials, and see what you really have each day.
Your pay
Your monthly essentials
Council tax, energy, water, broadband, phone, subscriptions
Credit cards, loans, car finance, buy now pay later
Left each day
Add your pay
Why "what's left" beats your salary
A £35,000 salary sounds the same in Leeds and London, but the rent and bills behind it aren't. What decides whether the month feels tight is the money left once the essentials have gone out. Turning that into a daily figure makes it real: you can see straight away what a takeaway or a weekend away costs you.
Not sure what your bills add up to? Total them with the household bills calculator, or check a new place with the rent affordability calculator.
Disposable income questions
What is disposable income?
The money left from your take-home pay once the essentials are paid: rent or mortgage, bills, debt repayments, food and travel. It's what you can actually spend or save, and it's a far more useful number than your salary.
How is my take-home pay worked out?
Using 2026/27 income tax and National Insurance rates for England, Wales and Northern Ireland: a £12,570 personal allowance, 20% basic rate, 40% higher rate and 45% additional rate, plus 8% and 2% employee NI. Workplace pension is taken before tax. Student loans and Scottish tax rates are not included, so use the figure on your payslip if you have one.
How much should I have left after bills?
There's no single right number, but if less than about a fifth of your take-home pay is left after essentials, one surprise bill can tip the month into your overdraft. The daily figure is the easiest to live by: if it's £15 a day, a £45 night out is three days' worth.
Is this the same as Safe to Spend?
It's the same idea for an average month. The Life Buddy works it out live: it knows which bills have already gone out and which are still to come before payday, so the number stays right on any day of the month.
Know what's left on any day, not just on average
The Life Buddy tracks which bills have gone out and which are still coming, then tells you what's safe to spend until payday. No bank connection.
No card needed. From £3/month after.