Expenses Calculator
Add household expenses at different frequencies and compare monthly and annual spending with income.
Household income
Combine income after tax. The starting amounts are an example budget.
Household spending
One-off costs
Optional. Added once to first-year spending, outside recurring expenses.
Results
Correct the marked input to calculate your expenses.
Monthly household spending
$5,823
Recurring expenses, including entered repaymentsAnnual household spending
$69,880
Recurring expenses before one-off costsMonthly surplus or deficit
$4,177
Take-home income less recurring spendingFirst-year spending
$69,880
Recurring expenses plus one-off costsFirst-year surplus or deficit
$50,120
Annual income less first-year spendingSpending by category
Original entries and their monthly and annual equivalents. Converted amounts round to whole dollars.
| Category | Entered amount | Frequency | Monthly | Annual |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rent or mortgage | $650.00 | Weekly | $2,817 | $33,800 |
| Groceries | $250.00 | Weekly | $1,083 | $13,000 |
| Utilities and communications | $450.00 | Quarterly | $150 | $1,800 |
| Insurance | $2,400.00 | Annual | $200 | $2,400 |
| Transport and vehicle costs | $180.00 | Fortnightly | $390 | $4,680 |
| Health and personal care | $180.00 | Monthly | $180 | $2,160 |
| Children and education | $150.00 | Monthly | $150 | $1,800 |
| Entertainment and eating out | $100.00 | Weekly | $433 | $5,200 |
| Other loan and card repayments | $300.00 | Monthly | $300 | $3,600 |
| Other costs | $120.00 | Monthly | $120 | $1,440 |
Uses 52 weeks, 26 fortnights, 12 months or four quarters per year. Totals use unrounded conversions. A blank expense counts as zero.
Includes entered housing and debt repayments. No lender benchmark is applied. One-off costs appear only in first-year results. A negative surplus is a deficit.
Your entries stay in this browser. CSV keeps entered amounts and converted totals to cents. PDF prints the current results.
Converting Bills to Monthly Spending
This expenses calculator adds each household cost on the same annual basis, then divides the total by 12 for monthly spending. The category table preserves your original amount and frequency beside its monthly equivalent.
Weekly amounts multiply by 52, fortnightly amounts by 26, monthly amounts by 12 and quarterly amounts by four. Annual amounts stay unchanged. These budgeting conventions match the frequencies in Moneysmart's budget planner.
For example, enter $100 weekly, $50 fortnightly, $400 monthly, $90 quarterly and $1,200 annually in five categories. Leave the remaining categories blank. The total is $12,860 a year and $1,072 a month. At $2,000 monthly take-home income, the displayed surplus is $928 a month.
The underlying monthly expense is $1,071.67 to cents. Annual spending comes from the original entries, so multiplying a rounded monthly display by 12 can give a different total.
Household Categories and Missing Costs
Include rent or mortgage payments, groceries, utilities, insurance and transport. Also check personal care, medical bills, education, entertainment and debt repayments. Combine missing costs under Other costs at one chosen frequency.
When two bills in a category have different frequencies, convert them to one frequency before combining them. For example, $600 annual car registration and $100 fortnightly fuel total $3,200 annually. Enter that annual total in Transport and vehicle costs.
Review statements for expenses that occur less often, including repairs, holidays, gifts and pet care. Moneysmart's guide to making a budget explains how to find regular and irregular costs.
Keep an annual bill in recurring spending when you expect it every year. A genuine one-off purchase belongs in one-off costs. The calculator adds it once to first-year spending and leaves recurring monthly spending unchanged.
Use take-home household income consistently. An expense already deducted from that income needs no second deduction here. If you add the deduction back to income, include the matching expense once.
Budget Totals and Lender Benchmarks
The result totals the spending you enter, including housing and debt repayments. A lender's assessment can group those costs differently and apply its own policy.
The Household Expenditure Measure (HEM) is a benchmark used in lending assessments. It does not describe your household's actual spending. This calculator supplies no HEM value or minimum expense floor.
ASIC's responsible lending guidance explains the limits of benchmarks when assessing a consumer's expenses. Check declared spending against records and the lender's requirements before using it in a fact find.