Cost of living calculator, 2026/27
Before deciding how much salary or dividend to draw from your company, it helps to know your true monthly cost of living. Enter your net income and main outgoings to see the surplus available for saving, investing or extra pension contributions.
The cost of living calculator runs on the rates and thresholds HMRC has published for the 2026/27 tax year, so the figures you see reflect the position your company is actually filing on rather than a historic set of bands. Change any input and the result recalculates immediately, with no sign-up and nothing sent anywhere.
If you are a director of a UK limited company, use it as a first look before a decision rather than as the decision itself. Essential outgoings are limited to the categories you enter; any other regular costs, such as childcare or debt repayments, should be added to one of the fields or considered separately. Real company positions bring in other income, reliefs, group structures and prior year adjustments that a single page of inputs cannot see, which is why the workings are written out below under personal finance & planning. Read those, then check the numbers against your own accounts, and speak to us if anything looks materially different from what you expected.
Last reviewed 12 September 2026 for the 2026/27 tax year. Reviewed by Waqas Sagar, Member of ICAEW, Fellow of ACCA, Fellow of AAT.
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Result, 2026/27
Monthly surplus after essentials
Total essential outgoings
Essentials as a share of net income
Annual surplus at this rate
Illustration only, figures are based on the rates you have selected and the information entered. Please check your own position with us before acting.
Estimates for the 2026/27 tax year using published GOV.UK rates. Switch between 2026/27 and 2025/26 above.
How this is calculated
This calculator totals the essential monthly costs you enter across housing, bills, food and transport, and subtracts that total from your net monthly income to leave a surplus or shortfall. There is no tax calculation involved; it is a straightforward budgeting subtraction using the figures you supply.
The essentials share of income is a simple ratio showing what proportion of your net income is already committed before any discretionary spending or saving, which is a useful figure to track over time as costs rise.
Why this matters when drawing from a company
Director-shareholders often have flexibility over when and how much to draw as salary or dividends, and understanding your genuine monthly cost of living is the starting point for deciding a sensible regular drawing pattern rather than drawing reactively.
A realistic essential-costs figure also helps when deciding how much to leave in the company as a buffer against corporation tax, VAT and other liabilities, since personal shortfalls often lead to inefficient last-minute dividend decisions.
Keeping the figures current
Utility, council tax and insurance costs in particular tend to rise each year, so revisiting this calculation at least annually, or whenever a fixed cost changes materially, keeps the surplus figure meaningful rather than out of date.
If your income varies month to month, consider running this against both a typical month and a lean month to understand the range of surplus or shortfall you might see.
What this means for your company
Treat the result as a planning figure for the 2026/27 tax year. If it changes what you were about to do, take a director's salary, a dividend, a large asset purchase or a filing decision, check it against your own accounts first. We can review the position with you and confirm the tax treatment before you commit.
Frequently asked questions
Should I include debt repayments as an essential cost?
Yes, minimum debt repayments such as loan or credit card minimums are generally treated as essential, since missing them has serious consequences. You can add them into the bills field or treat them as their own category if you extend the calculation.
What if my income varies month to month?
Use an average or a conservative low-income month for the net income field so the surplus figure reflects a realistic worst case, rather than only your best months.
Does this calculator include savings or pension contributions?
No, it deliberately separates true essential living costs from discretionary spending and saving. The surplus figure shown is what remains available for saving, investing or additional pension contributions.
How is this different from the 50/30/20 budget calculator?
This tool works from your actual essential costs upward to find a surplus, while the 50/30/20 calculator works from a target percentage split downward. Using both together can highlight whether your real spending matches a sensible target.
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