Pay and living costsEstimate, not advice
I built this as a quick monthly budget check. Put in an hourly rate and your hours, and I work out take home pay after 2026/27 Income Tax and National Insurance. Then add your main costs to see what is left, or how far short you are. Nothing you type leaves your browser.
Estimate using 2026/27 tax and National Insurance rates
Yearly gross pay is your hourly rate times your weekly hours times 52.
Income Tax uses the 2026/27 Personal Allowance of £12,570, then 20% basic rate on the next £37,700, 40% up to £125,140 and 45% above that. In Scotland I use the Scottish bands instead. The allowance tapers away above £100,000.
Employee Class 1 National Insurance is 8% on pay between £12,570 and £50,270 a year and 2% above that.
Monthly take home pay is the yearly figure divided by 12. Your costs are added up and taken off to give the monthly surplus or shortfall. Amounts are rounded to the penny.
Checked on 21 October 2026.
From 1 April 2026 the National Living Wage is £12.71 an hour for workers aged 21 and over. At 37.5 hours a week that is about £24,785 a year before tax.
At £12.71 an hour for 37.5 hours a week, I estimate take home pay of about £1,780 a month in England, Wales or Northern Ireland after Income Tax and National Insurance, with a standard 1257L tax code and no pension or student loan.
It is the Joseph Rowntree Foundation Minimum Income Standard 2026 food and drink budget for a single working age adult, £79.71 a week in April 2026 prices. Times 52 and divided by 12 that is about £345 a month.
No. I keep it simple with Income Tax and employee National Insurance only. If you pay into a workplace pension or repay a student loan, your take home pay will be lower. My take home pay calculator handles both.
Check whether you can get Universal Credit or other help using a benefits calculator on GOV.UK, and look at your biggest costs first. Council Tax Reduction may also cut your Council Tax bill.