How much can I safely spend until payday?

1. Start with your everyday balance. Use the account your bills and card spending come out of. Leave out savings you don't plan to touch.
2. Subtract everything due before payday. Go through the bills, automatic payments and direct debits that will come out between today and the day your pay arrives.
3. Keep a buffer. Hold back a small amount for the thing you forgot or didn't see coming.
4. Divide by the days left. What remains, divided by the days until payday, is roughly what you can spend each day without going short.

If the number is negative, that's worth knowing now rather than on the day a payment bounces. It gives you time to move money, shift a bill date or call a company before it's due.

Anything that will leave your account before your next pay arrives, including:

• Rent or mortgage payments
• Power, gas, phone and internet
• Insurance (car, contents, health, life)
• Subscriptions such as streaming, music, apps and the gym
• Loan, credit card and buy now, pay later instalments
• Automatic payments you've set up, including transfers to savings
• Annual or irregular costs that happen to fall this pay cycle, like car registration, a WOF or a domain renewal

The easy ones to miss are the irregular ones. A yearly insurance premium or rego renewal can be a few hundred dollars that only shows up once.

The method is the same however often you're paid; only the number of days changes.

If you're paid fortnightly, your pay date moves through the month, so a bill that's usually covered by one pay can land in the other. Check which bills fall in this fortnight rather than assuming last fortnight's list is right. Most years, two months have three fortnightly pay days, which can make those months feel easier than they are.

If you're paid monthly, the stretch is longer, so a small daily overspend early in the month adds up. Recalculating once a week helps.

• Card payments that haven't cleared. Recent purchases can show as pending, or not at all yet, so your balance looks higher than it is.
• Using your total balance. Money in savings or a credit card limit isn't spending money unless you mean to use it.
• Forgetting a bill that changed. Prices go up: check last month's amount, not the one you remember.
• Payday moving. If payday falls on a weekend or public holiday, your pay may arrive a day or two later (or earlier, depending on your employer).
• No buffer. A buffer of even $50 to $100 covers most small surprises; pick an amount that suits you.

Working this out by hand every few days gets old fast. Korin does the same sum for you: its Safe to Spend figure takes your everyday balance, finds the regular payments due before your next payday from your transaction history, and shows each one it subtracted so you can check them.

It's an estimate, not a guarantee. A brand-new bill or a payment from an account you haven't connected won't be included, so glance over the list. See How is Safe to Spend calculated? for the details.