Most people can tell you their take‑home pay to the dollar. Ask what’s left after everything gets paid, and the answer is a guess. That guess is the number your whole debt plan runs on. If it’s off by a few hundred dollars a month, the plan is off too, and not by a little.
This page helps you count it. You won’t build a budget here, and there’s nothing to track afterward. It’s one honest count of what life costs, organized the way you actually think about it: this car, the kids, the house. Plan on about 15 quiet minutes at the kitchen table.
Round numbers are fine. A close count beats a precise guess.
No sign‑up, no follow‑up. There’s no account to create and no email to hand over, so nobody is going to call or write. Your numbers stay on this page and disappear when you close the tab. If you want to keep your work, use the copy button at the end.
Step 1 of 4
Money in
Take‑home means what actually lands in the bank after taxes and payroll deductions. Paid every two weeks? That’s 26 checks a year, not 24. Pick the pace you’re paid and the math here handles it.
Take-home income
$0 /mo
Take-home pay, person 1
$
$0 /mo
Take-home pay, person 2
$
$0 /mo
Other incomeside work, rental, support payments
$
$0 /mo
Step 2 of 4
Required debt payments
The payments you must make each month: mortgage, car loans, card minimums, the rest. Enter the required amount, not the extra you sometimes add. The extra is exactly what we’re trying to find.
Debt payments
$0 /mo
Payments are all you need here. Balances and rates come later, when you build your actual plan.
If property taxes and insurance are escrowed inside your mortgage payment, enter the full payment here and skip them in the Home section below.
Mortgage payment
$
$0 /mo
Car loan or lease 1
$
$0 /mo
Car loan or lease 2
$
$0 /mo
$
$0 /mo
$
$0 /mo
$
$0 /mo
Student loans
$
$0 /mo
Buy now, pay laterKlarna, Afterpay, Affirm
$
$0 /mo
Other loanspersonal, 401(k), family
$
$0 /mo
Step 3 of 4
What life costs
Life doesn’t bill you monthly. Insurance comes twice a year, the holidays come once, tires come when they come. Enter each cost at the pace it really arrives, and this page turns it into a monthly number. Skip what doesn’t apply, add what we missed.
Home
$0 /mo
Rentif you rent; your mortgage is in Step 2
$
$0 /mo
Electricity and gas
$
$0 /mo
Water, trash, sewer
$
$0 /mo
Internet
$
$0 /mo
Cell phoneseveryone’s
$
$0 /mo
Streaming and subscriptions
$
$0 /mo
HOA dues
$
$0 /mo
Property taxskip if escrowed in your mortgage
$
$0 /mo
Home or renters insuranceskip if escrowed
$
$0 /mo
Repairs and upkeep
$
$0 /mo
Lawn, cleaning, help at home
$
$0 /mo
Food
$0 /mo
Groceries
$
$0 /mo
Eating out, takeout, delivery
$
$0 /mo
$0 /mo
Insurance
$
$0 /mo
Gas or charging
$
$0 /mo
Maintenance and tires
$
$0 /mo
Registration and inspection
$
$0 /mo
Parking and tolls
$
$0 /mo
$0 /mo
Haircuts and personal care
$
$0 /mo
Clothes and shoes
$
$0 /mo
Gym, hobbies, fun money
$
$0 /mo
Work lunches and coffee
$
$0 /mo
Health
$0 /mo
If health insurance comes out of your paycheck before it hits the bank, it’s already counted. Skip it here.
Health insuranceonly if you pay it yourself
$
$0 /mo
Doctor, dentist, glassesout of pocket
$
$0 /mo
Prescriptions
$
$0 /mo
Pets
$0 /mo
Food and supplies
$
$0 /mo
Vet and medicine
$
$0 /mo
Grooming and boarding
$
$0 /mo
Everything else
$0 /mo
Vacations and travel
$
$0 /mo
Holidays, birthdays, gifts
$
$0 /mo
Giving and donations
$
$0 /mo
Life and disability insuranceif you pay it yourself
$
$0 /mo
Things we both forgotthere are always a few
$
$0 /mo
One habit makes these numbers real: the yearly and twice‑a‑year money has to sit in your account between payments. It isn’t extra. It’s spoken for.
Step 4 of 4
Your number
Money in, per month$0
Required debt payments− $0
Living expenses− $0
Free cash flowWhat’s left over each month$0
Two numbers to carry into your plan
Monthly living expenses$0
Free cash flow$0
If that number is smaller than you expected, now you know where the debt came from. You weren’t careless. Life costs more than anyone’s mental math, and nobody ever made you count it.
If it’s bigger than you expected, that’s your payoff engine. It was there the whole time.
Either way, the count was the easy part. The plan, and sticking to it month after month, is where a guide earns their keep.