Savings goal calculator

How the amount is worked out

1. What is still missing. The target minus what you already have.
2. How many deposits. The deposit days from your first deposit to your date, counting both days. The first deposit sets the rhythm: every week is the same weekday each time, every two weeks is every other one, every month is the same day of the month.
3. Divide, and round up. What is missing divided by the number of deposits, rounded up to the next cent. Rounding up matters: rounding to the nearest cent can leave you a cent short on the last day, so the total of the deposits can come out a few cents above the target.
4. A first deposit date that has passed adds no deposits: only the deposit days from today on are counted, the way the app counts each time it works the plan out again.

The month needs one rule. A monthly plan that starts on the 29th, 30th or 31st falls on the last day of a month that is too short, then returns to its own day the month after. The deposits are always counted from the first one, not from the one before.

No interest — and why that is the cautious figure

The calculator adds no interest. It splits what is missing evenly across the deposits and nothing else. If the money sits in an account that pays interest, you will get there a little sooner than this says, so the figure is the cautious one: it does not lean on money you have not earned yet. It does not count fees or taxes either, or a change in what your goal costs by the time you get there.

A worked example

The same goal at every frequency. The more often you put money in, the smaller each deposit; the total hardly moves.

Weekly, that is 38 deposits of $63.16, $2,400.08 in all: $0.08 more than the $2,400 that was missing, because each deposit is rounded up to the cent.

How much to save in a year

For a quick figure, divide the target by the number of deposits in a year and round up.

A real calendar can hold one more: a year is 52 weeks and a day, and the first and the last deposit both count. With the first deposit on Monday, October 5, 2026 and the date a year later, saving $10,000 takes 53 weekly deposits of $188.68. The calculator above does that count for your own dates.

The same arithmetic for common goals

Whatever the goal is, the calculator needs three things: the sum, the date and the rhythm. These examples only show the arithmetic; the target is whatever you have chosen.

A vacation

A trip has a date that does not move — use it, or the day the booking has to be paid. For example: $2,400 for a trip on July 1, 2027, with $150 already set aside and a deposit every two weeks from Friday, October 9, 2026, comes to $118.43 each time: 19 deposits, the last on June 18, 2027.

A down payment on a home

Use the day you expect to need the money. This page works out only how to save a sum: it does not size a loan, work out a monthly payment or say how large a down payment should be. For example: $40,000 by March 1, 2029, with $5,000 already saved and a deposit every month from Sunday, November 1, 2026, comes to $1,206.90 each time: 29 deposits, the last on March 1, 2029.

With the cost of a home and a percentage rather than a sum, use the down payment savings calculator: it works out the down payment first, then this plan.

A car

Whether the sum is the full cost or only the down payment, the arithmetic is the same. For example: $12,000 by May 1, 2028, with $2,000 already saved and a deposit every week from Monday, October 12, 2026, comes to $121.96 each time: 82 deposits, the last on May 1, 2028.

A wedding

Use the date the money has to be there: the wedding day, or an earlier date if a payment falls due before it. For example: $18,000 by September 18, 2027, with $3,000 already saved and a deposit every month from Thursday, October 15, 2026, comes to $1,250 each time: 12 deposits, the last on September 15, 2027.

An emergency fund

A reserve has no due date of its own, so give the target you have chosen one. For example: $9,000 by January 1, 2028, with $1,000 already saved and a deposit every two weeks from Friday, October 16, 2026, comes to $250 each time: 32 deposits, the last on December 24, 2027.

More from Pennyjar

• How long will it take to save?at the amount you can put in each time
• Printable savings trackerboxes to color in, or a thermometer
• Sinking fundswhat they are, a calculator and a printable
• Down payment savings calculatorthe down payment on a home, then how much to save
• Savings tracker spreadsheetan Excel, Numbers and Google Sheets template
• The Pennyjar appa jar for every savings goal

More free savings tools

• 52-week money challengea printable chart for any starting amount — Pennyweek
• 100 envelope challengehow it works, the total, a printable tracker — Pennyweek
• Emergency fund calculatorhow many months of spending your savings cover — Monthsahead