Common questions.

Do I need an account to use the calculators?

No. Every calculator runs entirely in your browser — there's no sign-up, no email required, and nothing you enter is sent to us.

Is my budget data saved anywhere?

It's saved only in your own browser (using localStorage), not on our servers. That means it'll still be there next time you visit the same browser on the same device, but it won't follow you to a different device or browser, and clearing your browser data will erase it. Use the export-to-Excel button in the budget tool any time you want a real backup.

Are the calculators exact?

They're accurate for the math they cover (standard loan amortization, the 28/36 affordability guideline, compound interest, etc.), but real-world numbers include things a generic calculator can't know — your exact credit profile, a lender's specific fees, your state's exact tax rules. Treat the results as a solid estimate to work from, not a final number to lock in without checking with an actual lender, advisor, or accountant.

Is this financial advice?

No. Everything here is general information. See our About page for more on that distinction.

How do you make money?

Not from this website — it's free, and it stays free; it also carries no advertising today. Kaivora sells FWF Ledger, the optional companion app that puts the same arithmetic to work on your own money — net worth with real history, debt payoff planning, savings goals, and budgeting built from your real bank transactions; it has a permanent free tier and a paid tier, and nothing on this site ever requires it. Ordinary display advertising may be introduced to the site in the future, and our privacy policy will be updated first if it is. Either way: no paid placement, no affiliate links steering you toward a specific product, and no selling of your data.

What is FWF Ledger?

Our companion app, at app.financewithoutfluff.com. A calculator here answers one question and forgets it. The app plans your way out of debt to a dated finish, tracks what you’re worth as it changes, and tells you what the borrowing actually cost you.

Free, and permanently so: net worth tracked across every account with a real, editable history you can drag across to compare any two dates; the whole debt payoff planner — cheapest first, smallest first, or an order you set, each with its honest cost and the date you'd be debt-free — with buy-now-pay-later plans counted as the debts they are; savings goals; credit utilisation; debt-to-income; and full CSV and JSON export.

Paying adds bank linking, 50/30/20 budgeting built from your real transactions with every one re-categorisable and the correction remembered, smoothing for irregular pay, what your subscriptions cost you a year, household sharing with per-account privacy, history past twelve months, and six reports — including what a debt has actually cost you and what share of every dollar you paid never touched the balance. The free tier takes no card, and the pricing page lists exactly what paying adds. You never need an account for anything on this website.

I found an error or want a new calculator — what do I do?

Use the feedback page. Every submission gets read, and we prioritize what readers ask for.

Can I suggest a blog topic?

Yes — same feedback page, just note it's a topic suggestion.

How much house can I afford?

The standard guideline lenders use is the 28/36 rule: your housing payment (mortgage, taxes, insurance) should stay under 28% of gross monthly income, and all debt payments combined under 36%. A lender may approve you for more than that — approval is about their risk, not your comfort. Run your own numbers, with the down payment and interest rate you actually expect, in our affordability calculator, then decide how close to the ceiling you want to live.

How much should I have in an emergency fund?

The usual answer is three to six months of essential expenses — rent or mortgage, food, insurance, minimum debt payments — not three to six months of income. Where you land in that range depends on how predictable your life is: a steady salaried job in a two-income household points to the low end; freelance income or a single earner with dependents points to the high end or beyond. Our emergency fund calculator turns those factors into a specific target number.

Should I pay off debt or save first?

Both, in a specific order. First, build a small starter emergency fund — commonly around $1,000 — so a surprise expense doesn't land on a credit card. Then attack high-interest debt, since no savings account pays anything close to a 24% card APR. Once the expensive debt is gone, build out the full emergency fund. Our debt payoff calculator shows what different monthly payments do to your payoff date and total interest.

What's the difference between APR and APY?

APR (annual percentage rate) states a yearly rate without accounting for compounding within the year; APY (annual percentage yield) includes it, which is why the same nominal rate produces a slightly higher APY. In practice, loans and credit cards quote APR while savings accounts quote APY — each side quotes the number that flatters them. So compare APR to APR and APY to APY, never across. Full definitions are in the glossary under APR and APY.

Is the 50/30/20 rule right for me?

It's a starting point, not a law. The rule — 50% of after-tax income to needs, 30% to wants, 20% to saving and debt payoff — assumes housing costs that many cities no longer offer, so plenty of real budgets run closer to 60/20/20. The percentages matter less than the habit of giving every dollar a category and noticing when needs crowd out saving. Our budget tool is built around the rule and lets you adjust it, and our 50/30/20 article covers where it holds up and where it breaks down.