Divorce budget calculator
To know whether you can afford life after a divorce, compare your new solo income (take-home pay plus any support you receive, minus support you pay) with your solo monthly expenses. If expenses are higher, your savings divided by the monthly gap is how many months you can cover it. This calculator does that math in your browser.
Last reviewed
Your solo monthly budget
Example numbers are filled in. Replace them with yours.
Solo income
$4,700
Expenses
$4,210
Left each month
$490
- Housing and utilities take 41% of your income. That is above HUD's 30% cost-burden line, so the rest of the budget will be tight.
- Emergency fund target: $12,630 (3 months) to $25,260 (6 months).
How the divorce budget calculator works
The calculator adds your take-home pay and any child or spousal support you expect to receive, then subtracts support you will pay. That is your solo monthly income. It then adds up eight expense groups for a one-person (or one-parent) household.
Income minus expenses is your monthly gap. A positive number is room to rebuild savings. A negative number is the amount your savings must cover each month until something changes.
What share of income should housing take?
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) calls a household cost-burdened when monthly housing costs, including utilities, are more than 30% of monthly income. The calculator adds your rent or mortgage and utilities and flags the total when it passes that mark. It is a warning sign, not a rule: in high-cost areas many households pay more, but the rest of the budget gets tight.
How big should my emergency fund be after a divorce?
A common planning target is three to six months of essential expenses. After a divorce, with one income and new fixed costs, the higher end gives you more room. The calculator shows both amounts based on the expenses you enter.
Expenses people forget in the first year
These costs often appear after the divorce is final and are easy to leave out of a first budget:
- Your own health insurance if you were covered through your spouse's employer
- Car insurance and phone plans that used to be on a family policy
- Deposits and moving costs for a new home
- Legal fees that continue after the decree, such as refinancing or retirement account division
- Childcare that a second parent used to cover
Frequently asked questions
Should I count child support as income?
Enter it as support received if it is ordered and paid reliably. If payments are uncertain, run the calculator once with it and once without it, and plan around the second number.
Is my data saved or sent anywhere?
No. The calculator runs in your browser. Nothing you type is stored or sent to us.
What if my monthly gap is negative?
Look first at the largest lines, usually housing and transportation, and at costs that will end on a known date. The runway figure tells you how many months your savings cover while you make those changes.